Chris Jerk — Restaurant in Markham

Almost as good as their Scarborough location!

My friends and I stopped by on a saturday after a badminton session. This was my first time eating at this new location but I was surprised to see how spacious the interior was.

Tons of parking in the plaza and they have an interesting setup now. You order at the front when you walk in and then you can wait for your food if you got takeout or you can DINE IN now. That's right. They have a massive dining room to the right of the ordering counter now.

Anyways, I saw a bunch of new stuff that I didn't previously see at the Scarborough location but my friends had never even tried the Scarbs location so we opted for classic this time around. Jerk chicken entree, oxtail entree, jerk shrimp pasta (which was the daily special) and some cow foot soup. The pasta and soup I had never tried at Chris Jerk before so that was unique. They were just ok imo. The oxtail and chicken still reign supreme.

We also ordered some drinks on the side to share: coconut water, peardrax (a fizzy pear drink) and a grapefruit Ting (another fizzy drink). The Ting was our consensus first pick.

Spice and flavour-wise it tasted just as good as their OG spot but certain things like the cooking of the plantains (they used to have a glaze on the outside), the tenderness of the oxtail, the moistness of the rice seemed to be just a TAD better done at the original location.

We saw Chris and his wife hard at work making our food in the kitchen! Chris actually came over to ask us if we were influencers due to the amount of food we ordered lol. Still a super chill guy.

Will be back to this location with my...

Order Time: 5:09PM Pick Up Time: 5:58PM Total Time: 49min

This feedback is for the owner of Chris Jerk - you need to change how your orders are fulfilled and it shouldn't fall on your servers to apologize for the long wait.

Caveat: I will never leave a review based on a singular experience. I have a 3-strike principle. Given that I'm a repeat customer of Chris Jerk (and I have been since a little after this location opened), I gave them far more than leniency than I would another business. Here are the facts of today:

5:09pm - called in to place a pick-up order (single order of BBQ chicken for 1 person), was told order would be ready in 15-20min (I am normally told this every time I call in). So given my previous experiences of having to wait despite showing up on time, I decided to wait closer to the stated "ready" time before heading out. 5:43pm - arrive and paid for order It should be noted that the location was empty when I arrived. Not busy. As I'm waiting, server had to radio in twice letting kitchen know that I'm here for pick-up 5:58 - order is ready

That is 49min in total to prepare a single order for 1 person.

Let that sink in.

Servers have always been courteous and they know me by name at this point. It shouldn't fall on them to have to apologize for how orders are fulfilled - they have zero control over this. The owner of Chris Jerk needs to have another look at their process....

A really nice upgrade from the Scarborough location.

They have a nice sit down area with quite a few tables. And some being able to sit larger parties

The food is same quality as expected as you would if going to the Scarborough location. Jerk chicken was juicy and the coleslaw in the wrap is always a must.

Also got some festivals, which were tasty. It was a little overdone the outside was too crisp for my liking but the inside was perfectly soft. Festivals isn’t actually on their menu, but they do have it so all you have to do is ask.

Service from the counter was great. The ladies there are super friendly. The one thing I feel is that the wait was pretty long for a jerk sandwich and festivals. Maybe the festivals were what made it take longer. Had to wait almost 25 minutes for it, but what I did appreciate is the front counter after some time acknowledging me and saying they will check on what ls taking so long. Very nicely done.

Definitely would recommend going here for dining in or even take out. The meals seem to be faster in prep and more turnover.

Parking is very easy. Lots of parking available even during dinner...