Island Jerk — Restaurant in Huntsville

Yes!! After eating at Mango's I had to give Huntsville another chance. Wish I saw these reviews before I chose Mangos 1st. Talk about night and day. Born and raised in a Caribbean household and have eaten several hands of different style of Caribbean food. I was sketchy about the place but the reviews pre-warned me. This place has table and chairs but obviously not a place to stay to eat. Paint peeling off the wall a menu on a dry erase board, no one was at the front but a bell was there. It was Friday night and raining there were a handful of people in there upon my arrival. I heard the reggae tunes I grew up listening to that gave me the vibe I'm good and gonna eat good. I didnt ring the bell but patiently waited until someone eventually appeared from the door. This place was like an old Chinese restaurant or something. Anyway this lady comes out addressing people before me packing up their orders in plain clothes. I'm a nurse and she appeared in pain and I asked her if she was ok. But she continued to ask what I wanted, I shrugged it off too. No curry goat so disappointed but I know goat us usually the 1st to go, no biggie ordered the red snapper and the curry chicken with extra plantain. She was quick to tell me 25 minutes for the fish and I was like yep, ok I'm good. She wrote down my order an several other people who were waiting. I'm good the music I love is playing and now more people are entering. I hear arguing between the lady that took my order and what appeared to be the woman preparing the food. It seems like they mixed up or messed up some orders. After about 20 minutes the lady who looks like the cook ask everyone who's waiting what was their order. Of course I'm like oh no here we go.20 minutes later food just start coming out mine included. The cook shows me my order and I'm pleased. I pay for my order great decent price. I get home and devour my fish plate. The curry was for the next day but I had to taste it. The steamed cabbage wonderful, but the plantain was too ripe for me. But everything else...

I planned a going away family gathering and asked Island Jerk to prepare cabbage for a family of 12. The lady at the counter said that will take some time, I informed her that I was not in a hurry. She asked me to call her back later. I called her around 7:00 pm (I knew they closed at 9:00 pm). When I called her back, she again said what time did I need it, I again stated that I was in no hurry, I actually wasn't serving it until tomorrow (Sunday). She says oh, ok, what time do you want it on Sunday. I told her I didn't know they were open on Sunday, she said sure. I told her I would pick it up at 2:00 pm Sunday. I asked her how much was the order, she said she needed to figure the cost and would call me back on the number that showed up on her caller IID.

I felt just a little uneasy, but after checking the web hours it said Island Jerk was open Sunday 2-8pm on Sunday, so I relaxed.

I called several times on Sunday right at 2:00pm and got no answer. I decided maybe they were busy and decided to go pick up my order around 2:15pm. THEY WERE CLOSED. i was beyond disappointed, I had 12 guests showing up at my house at 4:00 pm and I was put in this awful position.

I can not understand why a restaurant would take your order, tell you they plan to prepare your order, arrange a pickup date and time for your order, but NOT fulfill the order with every intention on being CLOSED.

I have heard good things about the food, but I will never know. You don't get a 2nd chance to make a...

2/24 Update: I love this place! Went back and got the curry chicken and it did not disappoint. We tried to order online but it didn't go through their system. DON'T TRY TO ORDER ONLINE! just call your order in. I was able to get the order canceled and pay in house. The owner is very friendly and got us our food quickly despite the online order problem. I can't say enough good things about this restaurant!

(Please excuse the bad picture of my LG Goat Curry. I ate it outside and the lighting was not good. You can get the gist how much food you get though!)

This place is amazing! Some of the best food I've had locally in a while. This is a no frills kinda restaurant. The menu is small and not complicated. For a few dollars extra you can get a large and it's LARGE! I almost dropped my box it was so heavy. It's definitely enough for two meals.

I got the LG Goat Curry. It was so delicious. I can't say enough how good everything tasted.

This restaurant is more of a takeout restaurant but they do have a few tables and chairs if you wanna eat there. Though when we went, it was bumping in there! What I learned for next time was to just call in my order ahead of time. (not that it took very long to get our order but everyone else was doing it. They obviously were getting good business and I definitely know why!)

Service was good also. The owner was super nice. Everything is priced well for the amazing food you get.

Can't wait to come back and try...