The Best Caribbean Jerk Pits in Crown Heights and Flatbush
Smoking pimento wood drums on Nostrand, Church, and Utica Avenues serve up fiery jerk chicken, oxtail gravy, and steaming dhalpuri rotis.
Little Caribbean in Central Brooklyn is an intoxicating epicenter of spice, culture, and communal joy. The aromatic plumes of pimento wood smoke billow from steel drum smokers, drawing hungry lines from morning until late at night.
The Pimento Wood Distinction
True Jamaican jerk requires dry scotch bonnet peppers, allspice berries (pimento), fresh thyme, and scallions marinated into chicken for at least 24 hours before slow-smoking over authentic Jamaican pimento wood logs. At spots like Kingston Jerk Shack, the meat achieves a mahogany smoke ring and succulent tenderness that electric ovens simply cannot replicate.
Essential Sides
Never leave without rice & peas steeped in creamy coconut milk, sweet caramelized fried plantains, and an ice-cold grapefruit Ting soda or sorrel ginger beer.
Devon Clarke
The Brooklyn Food Guide editorial staff uncovers the culinary heartbeat of NYC's greatest borough — from 100-year-old family bakeries to cutting-edge natural wine bars.
