St. Bess Jerk

Stopped by St. Bess Jerk and decided to try something different and new. I ordered the chicken alfredo, and wow, I was not ready for how good it was. This wasn’t your typical bland or overly heavy alfredo. It was full of bold flavor, with spices that hit in the best way possible. The chicken was incredibly juicy and seasoned all the way through. You could really taste the jerk influence in every bite. It had a perfect mix of heat, savory spices, and a little smokiness that made it super addictive. I kept finding something new with each forkful, which made it exciting to eat. The pasta itself was coated in a rich, creamy sauce that didn’t feel too heavy. What really stood out was this hint of citrus like a touch of lemon or lime, that gave it a fresh, bright twist. It balanced everything out and made the dish feel lighter while still being super satisfying. I’ve honestly never had alfredo like this before. The portion size was solid, definitely enough to feel full or take some home. Service was friendly, and the food came out quickly. I’m already planning to come back and try the jerk chicken next, but that alfredo is definitely on my go-to list.

I have ordered from them a few time in the past. It is usually tasty but it's always some sort of hiccup My first time ordering chicken was extremely small like wings and legs from a pigeon. Chicken was good so decided to give them another try. Before ordering I asked about the size of the chickens and brought up my experience the last time with the miniature pieces of chicken. He said with an attitude do you the chicken or not it's just the size of the chickens that we have. I still ordered though. Gave them a few more tries because the food is tasty. I ordered and paid for extra jerk sauce the big cup. Well when I got home it was only the cup of jerk sauce I paid for not the one that comes with the meal and then the large cup of jerk sauce I bought half full.I was pissed. The are so stingy with that damn sauce.So this last time I ordered I waited until I was handed my order and then asked to by additional sauce the cashier looked annoyed. Get home open the bag jerk chicken completely burnt I wish I had taken a photo. I know jerk chicken has a char on it but this was burnt and had a burnt taste too, Cabbage was undercooked and still hard.When I arrived they said it would be extra 10 min for cabbage but they still put it on my plate undone.I was already waiting why not finishing cooking it. Food is good most times but not worth the attitudes, and headache of dealing with them so I won't be back unfortunately.

Food was good. Best Jamaican food I’ve had in a while.

I’m so disappointed!! I order lunches from here every now and then and they’re usually fine so unfortunately I ignored the poor reviews when I decided to get a catering order from St. Bess-Burbank. I spent $105 for a small pan of chicken and a small pan of cabbage. I called the order in on Wednesday morning to be ready for pickup at 6:30 pm. I called again around 5 pm to confirm it would be ready at 6:30 pm and they said it would. I arrived 30 minutes late at 7pm and it still wasn’t ready! The cashier had me pay them upon my arrival and I then had to wait another hour before I received my order! The cabbage was terrible! It was soggy, flavorless, and tasted like it was a couple days old. The chicken seemed like it was a pan full of chicken backs or shoulder blades or something! Most pieces were unidentifiable. There were a few tiny legs in there, maybe one breast, and not one, NOT ONE wing!! I thought I would get a pan with legs, wings, breasts, etc., but instead I got a bunch of cut-up remnants of chicken pieces. I was so disappointed and embarrassed!! My family was visiting from out of town and I wanted them to enjoy jerk from St. Bess where I sometimes get lunch from, but the expensive catering order was trash, absolute trash!!

Saint Bess Jerk Placed an order today! The worse customer service ever. I placed an order online and when my partner went to pick it up. It was nor in the system, although my card was charged. He told my partner that he can't give refunds. I call the number on the order and as I explained he HUGH UP.on me. This is the worst customer service ever and they totally lost my business forever. When you work hard and spend YOUR HARD EARN MONEY at a business at least you should receive the most common customer service, meaning if not great, good! Now, I discovered all the food ordered is not there. My CC company will be informed!

As i am writing this post at 9:04pm when business hours are till 10pm I walk in and I automatically get greeted with a We are closed with an attitude. I called the location prior to showing up and no answer. That is not good customer service. My family and I will never ever step foot in that establishment again. 07/01/2025 9:04-9:07pm.

Amazing food. Phenomenal white glove service from Lou. I literally drive 45 minutes to get my order, and it was absolutely worth it! Strongly recommend the dark chicken and ox tail meals!!

Oxtails tiny never seen that tiny before, and still amazingly tuff smh. Should have left when I said I wanted oxtails, and the cashier hold wait, and came back. Asked for spicy jerk sauce on the side he said that’s for the chicken they don’t jerk the oxtails. Smh can I eat what I pay for the way I want. 1st time trying it since I’m new to the area and Won’t go back!!!

Food was really great! Ordering over the phone was easy, location is easy to find in a strip mall. We ordered jerk chicken and oxtail dinners. Our wait time was quoted to be 20minutes, we arrived closer to 40 minutes later and still had to wait another 20minutes so expect that your wait time may be extended, my only complaint. Everything was seasoned and cooked well with large portions & extra sauce. Was pleasantly surprised to find that all the dinner meals came with rice too.

I went on my lunch break. I ordered the lunch special of jerk oxtails. The food has no taste. It is not seasoned at all. I wasted my $16.00. This is the second time I have tried this restaurant . The first was several years ago and I received dried chicken wings with no flavor. The service was ok. It looks like a Jamaican place with music playing . Its ok. I will never return!

I have passed by this spot a million times and just now decided to stop by. The exterior is easy to drive pass. Inside is clean and vibrant. I love the Bob Marley murual. A lady, Naje, took my order. She was semi-friendly, no hello but took order and stated 19 minutes. It actually took 13. Food was packaged tightly. I ordered a whole chicken for $17 and multiple sides. The chicken looked a tad brunt, but was ok tasting. The sides were average: Mac & cheese wasn't too cheesy, cabbage was dry, rice and beans was ok, plantains were good...they had no bread 2day(?????). The sauce was spicy. Would I go again? Probably if I'm shopping in the area.

Jerk goat is the best. For some reason the chicken is usually dry and the jerk sauce a little heavy. The service is good and never had a problem with the food. The ambience could use a facelift.

Ok, the first time We came here the Business!!!!!!!!! This go round, HIGHLY PISSED OFF!!!! Chicken Burnt!!!!!! Side's Mid, and the downside is today was a terrible day to travel from the south suburbs all the way to the city to get good quality food! We spent our hard earned money and gas to get this!!!! it was poor quality just like the weather today, and that's what they came up with.

While the guy was really unprofessional, the food was pretty good. They need some work to be done!

The chicken was cooked well but it had absolutely no flavor without the sauce. The beef patties are the exact same patties that they sell in the freezer section at the grocery story so please just buy those & cook yours at home. The one I received from the restaurant was very hard and overcooked. The only positive thing I have to say is the prices are very reasonable.

Food was not good and the order was wrong food was not fresh. The oxtails were not cooked enough they gave me sweet potatoes instead of yams. The Mac was cold. And the beef patty was smooshed and not crispy

My first time coming further west on the 9 for Jerk Chicken and I'm definitely coming back. I had The jerk chicken dinner with side of Mac and sweet potatoes. When I tell you that I scraped every morsel of food off the black tray... I was well pleased with everything. They're in my top 3 for jerk on the south west side of Chicago.

I was placing an order on a Sunday evening in late November. The guy who answered the order had an extremely bad attitude and hung up on me. There is a jerk chicken place about one mile east that has much better food and coworkers with customer service skills. Skip this place . Don't loose your dignity.

Never had Jamaican food before.. let me tell u about this jerk chicken..I will be coming back not spicy but just right

We were in the area and craving jerk food, so we came here. The girl working the counter was very friendly. The restaurant was clean. They do share a parking lot with other businesses. I ordered that jerk chicken dark dinner. It came with red beans and rice and I chose macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes. My dinner was $12. I thought it was definitely worth the price and the food was pretty good. My only complaint was there was a lot of small bones in the chicken and kind of hard to eat at times. Portions were big on the side dishes. My fiancé enjoyed his curry chicken dinner. His was $15 and he chose cabbage and plantains.

Much better than I expected. I'll definitely go back. However, I will probably order more than the 1/4 meal bc there wasn't enough meat and the wing I got was a bit dried out. Delicious but maybe order more than you need so if you get a dry piece here or there it won't matter. Truly delicious. I told my son about it and he went. He also thought the place was a win.

This a place I go to all the time for jerk chicken. the chicken is good but today was a BAD EXPERIENCE!! Today I went around 2:30ish ordered a 1/4 white with cabbage and Mac and cheese and a 1/2 white dinner with Mac and cheese, cabbage and I SPECIFICALLY SAID NO BEANS AND RICE WITH THE CHICKEN and a side of yams. The young man repeated my order and said ok I will not put rice and beans in your dinner. I get home and I had rice and beans on my plate very upset because I DO NOT EAT BEANS AT ALL, then it was a string of hair in my food. The young lady back there turning the chicken over did not have a hair net on. I tired calling several times and the phone rings and goes to voicemail. And of course the voicemail is full. I'm really disappointed with the service today.

The salmon was so good! Soft and flakes right off a fork! I liked all the sides except the string beans because they tasted like canned beans with no flavor. The rice under the salmon is a little too wet for me but still tasty! Not too spicy but a good amount of kick.

I kept driving past this place, and the wife and I finally got to try it. We've been to Jamaica a few times. Tried the jerk chicken dinner with a side of plantains and string beans. Rice is already included. The food was very authentic, and the owner was very nice. I'm going back to try the oxtail and the other sides. If you're in a hurry, order ahead. It's a long wait, but the food is fresh and definitely worth it.

Afraid I have to lower rating. First time was awesome, chicken very moist and generous portion. Second time, less so on both. Third time it was all very dry, wings were tiny, and they didn't even throw in any bread. $22 for just chicken and 6 dry wings is not a deal. Sad; had high hopes. Also, the beautiful young lady at the counter wasn't wearing a mask, said she'd just taken it off, and I could see the cook had one on but it was WAY under his nose. Not ok.

I ordered delivery of curried goat macaroni and plantains and I asked for a side of jerk sauce. My food got here quick and it's nice and hot so that is a plus. However, instead of my plantains I got mashed potatoes and the curried goat doesn't have much sauce on it and is pretty underwhelming with flavor. The macaroni is also pretty bland nor did I get my jerk sauce either. There's also a lot of bones in my curries goat as well

One of the best jerk place I'm been too. Great customer service. I order from there all the time and my food be ready when I get there

Food is authentic and really good. I would recommend you try the Calilou and fried fish

Stopped in and it didn't disappoint. Jerk Chicken Dinner was filling and delicious. Will comeback and try other items.

Super tasty jerk chicken, huge portions, reasonably priced, with a really sweet and charming woman working the register. I'll be back!

This for the new St Bess that opened on the North Side, at NW Highway and Narragansett. I went here on a recommendation from a co-worker and ordered the 8pc wing dinner with plantains and sweet potatoes. I got the oxtail lunch for my wife; damage was 28 bucks. Two things: 1) the soda I ordered was watered... the post mix wasn't changed. 2) the chicken wings were NOT done! They were still bloody on the inside! Six minutes in the microwave fixed that, tho. But, with those two peeves set aside, I got down to the eating. The jerk sauce was absolutely on point and the seasoning was fire! The dinner comes with beans and rice, and I had two side choices. Both sides were yummy! I got a GOOD portion for the 16 I paid, so no complaints there. My wife enjoyed her oxtails and even pilfered some of my jerk sauce for them! All in all, not bad. But be cautious when getting the chicken; be sure to check to see if it's done beforehand!

The is OK maybe it's just not for me I did not like the Flavors and how Burnt the food looks

I'm surprised this place is local, has so many great reviews and I haven't been to it yet! I wanted to try something new and support a local business. This place is outstanding! It's got a great menu and it's got great prices. Everything about this place is great. Their sides I tried were outstanding. The jerk chicken is literally off the bone! They even got specialty drinks. All of this amazing service for under $20 and done is reasonable time! Definitely reccomend!

This is one of my favorite places to get jerk chicken and oxtails in the city. The service is pretty good and the food is good. I love the jerk sauce the best that I have tasted

Honestly, the food is delicious, clean and flavourful!!! We ate at the Northwest Hwy in Chicago. The staff were friendly and welcoming. We ordered the white chicken dinner plate with a side of rice, Mac and cheese, and mashed potatoes. Then we ordered the chicken mix (dark meat), it came with rice and two sides, we picked sweet potatoes (highly recommend!!) and the Mac and Cheese. We also ordered Chicken Tacos, they were two bite size, but flavourful. I am so happy we ate here! Love everything.

The food was excellent the service was awesome...would definitely recommend this restaurant to everyone. The lunch orders are reasonable and the portions are good.

Saw the restaurant featured on the news yesterday, decided to give it a try today. We weren't disappointed, the jerk white meat was delicious (not too spicy), sides were on point! We tried the string beans, mac and cheese, corn and candied yams, the rice and beans were exceptional. We will definitely go back!!

I had been going here a very long time and some days were better than others,but still good enough to stay. Jerk is one of my favorite dishes. I was ordering here between 1-3 times a week some weeks. When I get off work I'm exhausted so I tried them through Uber Eats and I became a frequent customer. I'm not a hard person to please so I understand that there may be days when things aren't as good as others so I've never complained because I still ate the dinner and they should get paid. Well I placed my last order with them. I placed an order around 7 o'clock which wasn't pushing it considering they still had some hours before close. I ordered a jerk dinner. One of my sides weren't given so I'm assuming they didn't have it,but it was replaced with plantains which I don't eat at all so that was a bummer,but still no complaint at this point. The chicken was not jerked,it was burnt at which point I got pissed off! Then I'm so hungry I'm trying to take the skin off to salvage what I can at which point there are tiny bone fragments throughout almost every piece of chicken (4 pieces ) in my tray. I was livid!!!!!! Oh wait the beans and rice had bone fragments in it as well. They weren't closed,but they weren't answering the phone. I didn't care initially that I needed to complain to Uber I needed the restaurant to know how foul they were. I didn't go there because I would've been completely ignorant face to face. I had spent too much money with them to receive something so horrible. I would've respected them if they had just cancelled the order. I have dogs and I literally wouldn't feed it to them! As far as the fragments I would assume they were from chicken,but honestly don't even know. I was spending 30$ a minimum eating from there each trip. My name was familiar with these people from placing so many orders and just for the money they still sent that garbage out. Needless to say I went to bed hungry! They will never see another dollar of my money and I made sure to let my family know as well. I sent pics to Uber and they refunded me the money. I sent very clear pics explaining what they were looking at. Honestly I didn't complain about the corn which was the only thing I ate,but I didn't expect for Uber to refund the entire meal because I did eat the corn. They not only refunded me they also gave me my tip back and a credit. I was bothered by the tip because the driver did nothing wrong. I hope the restaurant see this very accurate encounter I had. Absolutely disgusted in such horrible service in dealing with food. It's just not acceptable!!!! If your food is not up to par and people order or walk in you should say there's no fresh food or just cancel the order. So many businesses go under and it all starts at the point in which you just don't care about what you serve someone. Think of how you'd feel if you received the same treatment. If you had a brain you'd feel how I felt. Hungry,tired and expecting a good meal that you've spent your money on to end up getting everything that I described. Very bad business!!!!!!! Outside of that I can honestly say that the food always came well wrapped up and the majority of the time hot. I can also honestly say that I'm mad I had to give the one star.

The food is great but the customer service needs work. There was a lady video chat with the staff. Because her child father owns the restaurant and got his food in front of the rest of the customers including myself. I don't know if the owner will do anything about this but here's my opinion

food was amazing. I'm a very picky person I order DoorDash. My food was hot. It was really good. Must try.

Okay. I have to admit, I put off trying the food at St Bess Jerk. Not so much being leery of the food but the parking. February 13th, 2022, I ordered the tilapia dinner grilled with my sides being the yams and green beans. The tilapia comes on a bed of rice. My gosh! The flavor was great! The fish moist, not dry like some other places I order carry out from. My wife kept telling me to slow down. I was afraid someone else would want some. Then came the bad news. There was too much for one person. Be ready to share at least the fish. I am going back to try the tilapia jerk style and the white meat jerk chicken dinner.

The food was delicious, it was prepared quickly, and portion sizes were adequate to feed even the hungry teenage boys. The place was clean and the employees were friendly. The jerk dinner includes red beans and rice plus 2 choices of sides. At $12 it was a great deal in this economy.

They haven't been the same since they first opened..food horrible service horrible!!! I tried over and over again to support but it's always a disappointment

This place is such a hidden Gem! The food is absolutely delicious and the prices are good, especially if you get lunch specials!

Chicken was extra juicy... food impressing. Always hot and fresh cabbage my favorite also very quick with orders.

Pretty good food for great lunch special prices. They never give you enough jerk sauce. I think it's because they also sell it by the bottle so they intentionally short you on sauce. The chicken is delicious and just spicy enough. My favorite sides were the macaroni and cheese and the green beans. I didn't really like the sweet potatoes. They had an aftertaste like maybe they used an artificial sweetener. The 87th St location parking lot is super tiny in the middle of a strip mall so be patient waiting for a parking spot or have another driver in the car so you can hop out and run in. I recommend looking at the menu online and calling in your order in advance because this place gets really busy.

Dark meat was flavorful and delicious! Definitely will be back. Jerk sauce was delicious and you can even buy a bottle of sauce to take home.

Finding a solid jerk joint is a must, finding it blocks from your house is a frigging blessing. I generally get the jerk chicken and my wife loves the tilapia - sides are not an afterthought here and are absolutely amazing. Just don't order the deserts, I want those all to myself

Microwaved food. Service is horrible. Like they stopped caring. I'll try another one... but this place is a strong 'NO GO!" You can get the same quality of Jamaican meat patty for $1 at Dollar Tree than the $3 spent here.... with the different that you can bake it like it's supposed to instead of a floppy mess when they heat it up in the microwave.

The Mac n cheese was not tasteful and jerk chicken flavor was subpar.....portion size was ok though

The guy charged me $10 per jerk taco when it was supposed to be $10 for 3 tacos. I called back to confront to mistake and got nothing but a nasty attitude from another employee. The food taste decent but not decent enough to be disrespected and ripped off

Supporting a fellow YELPER, & this is his spot! I came in to try EVERYTHING. LOL, I think I accomplished trying quite a few items. I ordered the jerk shrimp alfredo, the jerk wings, 1 mixed jerk chicken dinner /1 white chicken dinner, & jerk catfish. Sides were green beans & yams. The young girl at the counter was pleasant and courteous while taking orders and while we waited on everything to be freshly prepared. I'd say I waited maybe 15-20 mins. Everything was hot and fresh! Just how I like my food. I live an hour away from here so we ate in the car. DELICIOUS!!!!!! So glad I made my way out here. I'd seen it advertised on IG, then I learned who owned it after having it bookmarked for a month or 2 and I came in instantly! The sauce was tasty & not too spicy. The chicken wasn't overcooked. My dad & his wife loved it!!! I can't wait to come back & try a few other items. IT'S A YES FOR ME!!!!

Picked up my order it was a lunch special half chicken(white) w/ Mac n cheese and cabbage also we had the oxtail dinner everything was pretty tasty. Chicken was my fav the oxtail was on point! The veggies was just alright. The jerk sauce is really really good. Definitely will be eating from them again. Giving it a 4 only because the veggies they offer should have more flavor.

Absolutely awful. Food is normally great here - but I ran into a bad experience tonight. I have never left a bad review in my life. Firm believer in if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. I ordered an oxtail dinner and they sent me home with chicken.... Proceeded to have my boyfriend call and get it swapped out for what I asked for and the man over the phone asks me if I want a credit or want it swapped out(which I'm not mad about.) We told him we wanted oxtails and he tells me they're about to close so they couldn't give me my oxtails. Not happy. 1/10 because I can't eat this. Coming back to say they fixed the issue. I came back and they gave me the correct order and it was delicious. Changing my rating to 5/10 because I still don't understand how you confuse oxtails with chicken.

The food was fresh and delicious. The dinner was a good portion plus had some left over for later. Great jerk flavor throughout the meal.

I'm Jamaican and I hate to do this but my God. The food is absolutely horrible. Spent over $50 and had to literally throw it away. The oxtail is a sin and the steam fish was not good. Rice and peas was decent. Maybe this was just a bad night or some people have absolutely no idea what Jamaican food should taste like but I was actually amazed that it was so bad. The oxtail kinda tasted like lime. It was sour which makes me wonder if the meat was a bit spoilt. Really really really not good. I hope they read this and make improvements.

The food was just OK the Curry shrimp was a little bit too watery for me green beans was bland chicken was good Mac and cheese a no. Maybe it was a off day I will try again and post another review