Uncle Joe's Jerk Chicken Hyde Park

Nope. Just don’t. This is the WORST “Jamaican” food I have ever had. Run away! The oxtails are only offed in dinners and they are nearly $40 with 2 sides. The oxtails were flavorless except for salt and the fat was NOT trimmed off. I got mac and (something like cheese) as one side. I’m warning you not to do it. I also got rasta pasta which tasted sweet for some reason. Why would rasta pasta be sweet? HELP! Please save your money and go elsewhere.

Beyond disappointed. I used to come here for years… Im visiting and came again and the quality of the food has diminished greatly. I paid $36 for a combo that included to dry oxtails without the fat trimmed and a leg and a thigh. 1/2 a plantain. Rice is flavorless. Cabbage mushy and bland. $36 is just disrespectful to charge for this $6 plate at best. Sad to say im done supporting this place after almost 20 years.

Jerk catfish was good but they gave me a tail. I didn’t pay my money to eat a tail. Plantains not the best, rice not good at all. Jerk chicken was good but skin wasn’t crisp enough, flabby skin. Cabbage was good 4/5. Mac was ok 2.5/5, but the sweet potatoes were good 4/5. Glad I got them. Service was good though. Lady was polite and cool.

I ordered two oxtail dinners and everything was so good! The flavors were rich, and you can definitely taste the love in the food. Our order did take over 30 minutes to prepare, but it was worth the wait.

I would give this zero stars if I could. The oxtails weren’t trimmed and just covered in grease which also soaked down to the rice. Mac and cheese tasted like water. Jerk chicken and plantains were fine but nothing to rave about. Should have read the other reviews before going. Do not waste your money coming here. Absolutely terrible!

I haven't been there in a while (at least 3 years) and reminded myself last night why that is the case. I had 3 dishes and 2 beef patties...all epic fails: The brown stewed chicken had no stew, and was very dry...the rice and peas were scorched and had a burnt flavor. The cabbage was completely flavorless. The curry goat was extremely chewy and very hard to eat. For some reason the rice and peas on the goat dish was not scorched but really bland...the cabbage the same as above. All white jerk dinner was COMPLETELY OVERCOOKED and not in a good jerked way...WAY TOO DRY but skin was not crispy. Rice and peas was scorched and tasted very burnt. Cabbage was again completely flavorless. The 2 jerk patties were limp and very greasy. For 93 PLUS a $5 surcharge for using a card, hopefully I will remember from now on why I don't eat here anymore.

I want to start off by saying I ordered SIDES……. Not a full meal! It took 30 minutes to make SIDES! Then once I received it not only was it not hot, I had large peppers in my Rasta pasta! And my Mac and Cheese tasted reheated! Never again! And the cashier was not friendly or polite at all.

Nothing like it used to be. I ordered a jerk chicken lunch special with 2 beef patties. I received 3 very DRY pieces of chicken and 1 leg looked like it had been picked at. No bed of rice and beans just some dry Mac and not so tasty yams for $15! I won’t be back.

The jerk chicken is always on point and we usually do cabbage, rice and peas, plantains. We also carry out and eat at home. Food was great as usual but I don't recall the gravy they're using. I would prefer my gravy on the side instead of on my rice and peas. Service was good since our meals were ready for pick up.

Per my receipt, I placed an order at 11:12 am on Wednesday November 26, 2025. After waiting almost 30 minutes for the order, I arrived home only to find the order was missing the plantains and the cabbage was not fully cooked. I called the restaurant at 11:57 am; the young man put me on hold and never returned to the call. I called from a second phone, no answer. The initial wait was probably because the cabbage was not ready. Why not be honest with customers and say.... we don't have cabbage ready, would you like to wait? I chatted with a lady that ordered immediately before me (she was ticket #6, I was ticket #7); she waited 30 minutes for a salad with side of Mac & cheese. Probably because food was not ready but instead of respecting the customer's time, their business takes our money but don't give decent customer service or product. It's cool; if this was the last restaurant in Chicago, I will not patronize this business again.

Let me start my review by saying that I am a true foodie! I base my reviews based on customer service, quality of food, cost-effectiveness, etc. i have eaten jamaican food in Jamaica, California, NYC, Connecticut, Georgia, Dallas.... Etc. So I know a little something about Jamaican food! My experience at uncle Joe's a few minutes ago was quite disheartening. Customer service: ZERO RATING! I was the first customer of the day. I walked in at 11:02 AM. I walked in an said "good morning!" (3 times!)! The male cashier greeted me with no energy & a blank stare, as if to say "what do you want?!" I asked him what was good. He said " depending on what you want"... with no energy, no smile, no pleasantries, and no enthusiasm. I ended up ordering the jerk chicken lunch. About eight or nine minutes after I made my order another lady came in again. It's now just the two of us in the store. She stood at the counter with with the young man standing right there on the phone for a good 10 minutes and I finally hear her say are you gonna take my order. And I hear him mumbling something about he was counting the Thanksgiving orders. He finally took her order two more people came in. I sat there for 30 minutes. keep in mind I'm the first customer. 30 minutes waiting for him to say here's your order ma'am. The last guy who was in the line got his order before I got mine so I stood up. I said I was the first customer here and I ordered jerk chicken how did he get his order first. My order was sitting on the counter. Don't know how long it had been sitting there while this young man is again on the phone and standing there talking to what I am assuming is the owner of the place they're just chopping it up. As my food sits there never did say ma'am here's your order so when I asked him about my order, the owner said would you order and I said jerk chicken he said oh here it is number four so the young man looked up. I said you gotta do better young man I've been sitting here for 30 minutes. How long is my food been sitting here you didn't think to say, ma'am here's your order... ZERO CUSTOMER SERVICE RATING!! Food: the jerk chicken was a 10/10! The rice & peas was nasty and Was smothered and gravy! ZERO RATING! I've eaten a lot of jerk chicken from a lot of Jamaican places in my lifetime and I've never had gravy put on my rice and peas! That's a hard note for me. The cabbage wasn't seasoned well. Zero rating! I would suggest only getting the jerk chicken by itself without the sides. Overall experience: 2/10. If you do decide to go, I suggest only getting the jerk chicken only not the sides however, I wouldn't suggest coming back honestly. I love supporting my people; however, I hate being disappointed with poor service, like this! Blatant disrespect for pleasantries is a deal breaker for me. As a reminder, you won't have a business without customers. And if you treat the customers like shit, we will not coming back! If all of the food isn't good, we're not coming back. Get it together and do better! Please schedule your staff for customer service classes, and hospitality classes immediately otherwise you're gonna lose your business!!

Pretty solid Jamaican spot - I'm not the biggest fan in general so take my review lightly. I've been to Jamaica and have been trying to see if any place in Chicago can come close and I was told this would be the spot. I'll give them props in saying they were good but I won't say exactly like I had it (which I'd assume is hard to pull off anyway.) It's a hole in the wall spot - don't expect to dine in here. It's also on a busy street in Hyde Park but they've been there a long time! Parking can be hit or miss. We went during lunch but spent around $50 for everything - the 2 meals shown + (2) drinks. A bit pricey for our taste especially for lunch meals BUT they didn't skimp on the food. The oxtails were VERY fatty and we only got 4 - that of course was the pricier meal being in the $20+ range. Very little meat unfortunately but they were tasty. The brown stew chicken was more-so jerk chicken with the brown stew poured over (not how I had it in Jamaica) so that disappointed me a bit. The rice and peas were solid. Yams were just fine. The mac & cheese was a major disappointment - just gave kraft which is not how I desire it, ever. Overall we were filled but I wasn't the most satisfied. My boyfriend said he was also disappointed and he's had them before.

Food is good, cashier is awful! Doesn't greet anyone. I walked in the restaurant Saturday 11/22/25 around 3:50pm, right up to the cashier stand she didn't even look at me the customer; and proceeded to ignore me being there until I finally said something. I was 2 seconds away from leaving. Terrible customer service just awful, very uninviting I will never go in there again. Food is good though but there's other good jerk in Chicago too with better more pleasant and polite cashiers!

Saw the sign for Jerk chicken all the way from across the street at Kenwood Academy and decided to check them out for lunch. Place looked dead and empty but door was open so went inside. Saw a person at the register and asked him questions about the menu and dude literally looked at us like he didn't work there and said "I don't know". Then proceeded to say they had whatever was on the menu except for Mac n cheese. I instantly went on Yelp to see if I needed to walk out that door or look past this bad service and try their food. Saw a few reviews from my Yelp Elite friends that were promising so decided to stay and ordered the half chicken meal. Took it to go as the vibe was more of a no frills place and they didn't really have chairs and tables like that for dining so decided to eat my meal in my car. The jerk chicken was actually decent! I liked the flavor of the chicken but they put way too much gravy on it. My husband's dad's side is Jamaican and I know my jerk. I've never had it with gravy before - just the sauce is all you need. I felt like the whole meal was drowning in gravy so was it trying to make up for something that wasn't there? Not sure. But I did enjoy the meal and felt like the jerk sauce alone would have been better on the chicken minus the gravy. The sides it came with: Rice and beans, plantains, and candied yams were decent too. I do plan on coming back but will take advantage of their lunch menu on weekdays. It's pretty much half the price that we paid for as we came on a Saturday!

One star is probably too much to give for an establishment that tells a new customer to wait a moment while taking other customers orders after i am waiting longer. I would not recommend coming here to order. Call in to make the order.

Uncle joes is classic, enough said truly, but the food is always amazing, go at lunch for a quick deal or dinner for a meal and nap combo lol, 20-30 mins of the service time but the food is fresh and made with love so I understand, friendly inside to order your food and even eat if you want but it's a nice spot to wait for your food and enjoy the vibrant colors everywhere

8/8/25 Came in to try the food, didn't get a chance because the unwelcoming cashier told us they were about to close. They had about 35 mins before closing. What a turn off! Clearly, they didn't wanna make any more money for the day. As we proceeded to leave she gives us a menu as though we're returning. No thanks!

So, unless I'm desperate for jerk chicken, I will be on another long hiatus. The oxtails were so delicious in my previous review, so I got them again. They were plentiful and delicious, well worth the plus $30 total. So I went again and they were awful. The rice and beans were dry, there was hardly any gravy from the oxtails. There were four oxtails that were tough and flavorful like before. I had more oxtails when I got that horrible curry goat/combo. Hardly any gravy. This dish costs too much to roll the dice on having a good order. I'll be cooking them at home .

One of my favorite places for jerk chicken on the Southside of Chicago. I advise ordering ahead if possible, they are not in a rush and always busy. The food is tasty, cooked well and served hot. Prices are reasonable for most selections.

I have lived in the neighborhood for twenty years. I use to come here often. This place use to be soooooo delicious! But now the quality and consistency is horrible!!! I would say for the past ten years it's been this way! I try them once a year to see if there is some change. But nope!!!!! They think they're slick they give you old dry chicken with a few new pieces. Plantains aren't ripe. Bread was hardish. The chicken person back there knows what he's doing. Seems like they know the regulars and give them the best pieces. I wish a more consistent jerk place would take their spot. Yesterday was my last time. I am so disappointed and disgusted with you guys! Serve our community with respect and consistency!

I went to Uncle Joes today on my lunch break, and before that I looked online for their menu that stated their Jerk Chicken Wrap was $9.50. When I came in the menu said $16.00, when I asked the cashier for some clarification he mumbled a smart remark before asking me "What is it that I want". I went ahead and bought my food, but the portions do not match the price they charge. A small chicken wrap with a side of plantains(4 pieces of plantains) this meal was subpar!! If I had to choose between eating dirt or this place I would happily eat dirt!!Than to deal with an attitude and subpar food.

I have enjoyed Uncle Joe's jerk chicken for the past several years. The chef has never disappointed my taste buds. My dissatisfaction is with the order taker. For the past few months, one of the young ladies that answers the phone is not professional, she is impatient and she does not extend the courtesy of saying "thank you for calling." After you place the order and she says when you can pick up your order, she hangs up. That's it. Her lack of customer service skills has made me no longer want to patronize Uncle Joe's in Hyde Park. She is the reason that I'm only giving a two star rating.

The jerk chicken here is good and the meat is juicy. There bottle of jerk sauce they sell is good too but I went here to get another bottle and she said they were sold out. Other than that great service and great food.

Service was horrible, and my experience with the food was even worse. Nevermind the fact that they got my order wrong, it was a ROACH in the food! I haven't ate there in years and thought I'd give them a try, needless to say I will never go there again!

first off the food was terrible. I ordered mac and cheese, yams, and jerk catfish but got cabbage and no yams or mac. the lady told me there rice doesnt come with it if i get mac and yams so i got a side of rice for 7 dollars. when i got the food there was rice that came with it so basically i ordered rice for no reason. The rice tasted like u it was blended and the fish was horrible as well. Dont come here

service was great. Food was not good at all. I've had Uncle Joe's before so I figured i'll try it again. Total waste of $31! Stay away from the oxtails. Very small and fatty. At least you'll could trim the excess off the oxtails. Macaroni was so dry and cabbage was hard! I'll never go back!

The food is hot and freshly made. Do plan to order ahead or you will have to wait 20+minutes. There is no place to sit and eat your food. Katrina is a nice, friendly face who takes your order. Street paid parking is something to be aware of. There are no customer bathrooms. It's a nice place when there aren't a lot of other customers around. Curry chicken was good with flavor. Jerk chicken had a nice kick to it. Cabbage could have been seasoned more. Otherwise good.

Orders 4 beef patties and ALL 4 were burnt at the bottom. Really unacceptable and this may very well be my last time coming here cause like wtf?!

Something went terribly wrong with my jerk chicken dinner. I just paid $44.00 for two dinners and the beans and rice had so much hot peppers in it I couldn't eat it. My tongue felt like it was on fire. I've eaten at Uncle Joe's for as long as it has been in the Hyde Park and I've never had a bad experience until now.

What happened to the quality of food at Uncle Joes? I ordered brown stew chicken for lunch and the chicken was very dry, no heavy what's so ever, the macaroni and cheese was tasteless and over cooked and the cabbage was almost raw. They used to be so good. I'm never going back.

Joe's Jerk Chicken is a very busy carry out restaurant. Looks like prior to Covid they had dine in but no longer available. I tried the combo dinner plate with chicken and curry lamb with corn and rice/bean side. Amazing flavors. Only reason for 3 stars is poor customer service. Food taste and flavor is 5 star. Inside was not that clean and had to wait over 40 min to get the food. I think the price is little on the expensive side for the amount of food you get.

I ordered the white meat jerk and cabbage. I placed the order over the phone. The lady was nice and gave me an accurate time for when the food would be ready. Everything was tasty and I had leftovers. Definitely will return and recommend. It's a little pricey‍

I LITERALLY JUST WALKed OUT BECAUSE OF THE VERY BAD ATTITUDE BY THE LADY. She lied and told me it was not her on the phone I showed her the number. She then lied again and said it wasn't her she then would not give me the managers name I had to ask the security. I ALWAYS BUY HERE BUT NEVER AGAIN.

Down hill the chicken has become drier than normal and the side aren't seasoned the same it's still decent but not what it used to be.

The wait was long! The food was pretty good, I didn't like gravy on my rice, I wish the person taking the order would've made it clear that they put gravy on the rice. The service was good, the cashier was personable and made the transaction enjoyable. The restaurant was a no frill type of place, but that did not take away from the food. The cabbage was DELICIOUS!

The flavor was good but the wings were minute. 6 wings was equivalent to 3 wings. Everyone enjoyed their food after a fairly long wait. We did have some items that are prepared when ordered so perhaps that was the issue.

Customer service can completely ruin the experience, despite how good the food may be. However, thank Goodness that the manager, Halima, is AMAZING. She listened to my concerns and rectified the issue promptly. That said, the food was good per usual!

Considering there are other Jerk locations. This location is overpriced. I ordered a Curry goat dinner, the clerk said what's your sides I told her cabbage and yams. I just knew rice and peas came with the dinner. It does not yet they are charging $26 for this meal. They not telling you any better until you call to complain and they not sorry for the inconvenience. I won't go back if you raising prices and short changing customers.

The curry goat was rubbery, half cooked. I spent $60.08 for two dinners and was very, very disappointed. I had to pay extra for beans and rice because I got two sides dishes. You use to get two sides and beans and rice. Now you pay for the beans and rice separate. The goat is what took me over the edge. Mostly bones and rubbery meat and lots of fat. Will never go back there again.

My favorite jerk spot in Chicago! It's a hit every time, sauce is perfect and chicken is juicy.

I had to write an update. I came here with my family a week ago. The food is still really good. I ordered the jerk chicken dinner and a side of callaloo. My mom and sister both got oxtail dinners. The prices have went up, but I feel like that is happening at every restaurant. We called ahead and the food was ready when we got there. I am very pleased with this place. The next time I visit Chicago I will be coming here again.

The cashier was super nice. The chicken and macaroni however were so dry and bland. The sweet potatoes were dry. I wasted $22.

I LOVE this spot!! The customer service is ALWAYS friendly and professional. The good is delicious and it's clean! I would recommend this spot to anyone! I'm fact, gotta place an order now! Hope you try it out! Enjoy!!

Never, I mean never will I ever eat there again. They would have to sell jerk chicken meals for .99! I couldn't wait to get back to Chicago for a nice jerk meal, this was by far the worst meal I have had. Not only was the food bad, but the service was worse. I called in my order at 3:00 and was told it would be 45 minutes. I show up in an hour, food still not ready. Waited 40, yes FOURTY extra minutes. Finally open my food. Chicken was dry and burnt. Rice and peas looked old. The only thing that was decent was the cabbage. Top it all off They charged me $14.45.... I have eaten Uncle Joe's for years, but never at this location . If I could give ZERO stars I would!! Do yourself a favor and Go to one of the other locations. I had time today, lol

Always hot and delivered quickly. The curry chicken is my favorite. With a generous portion of rice and peas.

Food: The food was descent nothing to write home to mother about about as they say. I had the oxtails with rice and peas and plantains or should I say plantain because as it seems the dinners consist of one piece of a plantain. I also had a side of macaroni and cheese which was actually pretty good. The rice and peas where to be expected I would say 3.5 of 5. And the oxtails were, in my opinion weren't braised long enough for the tenderness you would want from such a tough meat. The food was seasoned well if you're looking for spicy jerk you wont find it here but that's not a problem. Price & Customer Service: I feel it was over priced for the quality of food and service. I don't want to say I was underwhelmed because I want but the price of the dinners didn't leave me either the feeling or satisfaction i wanted after the price I paid. The customer service was I would say 2.5 of 5. Nothing rude happened or anything like that happened. The reason it was so low was because it was bagged incorrectly. I asked that two orders be placed in separate bags. This simple request was screwed up. Also the bags were identical and unmarked. These were two fairly simply customer service features that was neglected. Misc: the establishment looked clean and the cooks preparing the foods wore masks and gloves. When using the restroom/storage room I was pleasantly surprised to find all the chairs for the establishment to bid sitting was in the washroom. I'm glad I didn't have to do anything "extensive" because there was hardly any room to do what I needed to do. Finally there was no soap either, only a generic hand sanitizer solution. Overall this wouldn't be an establishment I would return to. And I think that's it...

Placed a small pan order early afternoon. Chicken was ready when I arrived. Lady at the counter was nice with good customer service skills. Price for small pan was a little pricy compared to other jerk restaurants. Chicken and sauce both good. I would recommend and order again.

I use to absolutely love this place. My guy and I would go on the regular so let me say how disappointed I was the last three times I went. The beginning of the end for me I believe is when we got some goat and oxtails and it was mostly bones. My rice was dry and my cabbage just wasn't as good as it use to be. I don't know if they had a new cook when I last visited but it was definitely a difference. I don't think I will be back but I do hope they go back to the way it use to be, but you try for yourself and see what you think. As always everyone... Be Safe and Enjoy!!!

I decided to give this place a try as i was waiting on my dog to get groomed down the street from the establishment. I called in the order and the wait was pretty quick as it was a Wednesday at 12 pm. The young man that took the phone order was talking really low. The chicken and jerk sauce was really good. I ordered the 1/4 White Meat Jerk lunch special. I was mad at myself for not ordering a extra jerk sauce as they only gave me one. The lunch special came with beans and rice, plantains and a side i chose cabbage. I don't like plantains but they did not give them to me with my order which was disappointing as i paid for them. Overall it was pretty decent i would give it another shot

Great traditional Jamaican Jerk specialities (jerk chicken of course). Consistently good service with a nice ambiance in the Hyde Park neighborhood.

The food is okay but the staff is so incredibly rude. I called in an order and the young man who answered the phone, was incredibly offputting and disinterested for the entire interaction. He answered and immediately put me on hold for at least six minutes only to then display an attitude when I asked questions about the meal options. I used to come here often when i lived in the area and was craving jerk chicken today so I drove all the way to Hyde Park from the north side only to experience the bad vibes even more in person. When i asked for salt after receiving my food, the young man told me that they didn't have salt packets to which I politely asked if they could just put a couple of pinches of salt in one of their sauce containers for me, which they charge 50 cents for (absurd). He snickered and said he didn't think so before saying he would see what he could do. I expected him to maybe come back with the salt but instead he came back with the manager who was grinning and sarcastically said "we don't have salt packages, love and we don't do that here". what a waste. The place was empty as it should be to be honest. Poor customer service, and they nickel and dime for everything. The sad part is that it would've taken absolutely zero effort or resources but they seem to be more interested in having some sort of pissing contest with customers. I will not be wasting my time on my money returning.

Uncle Joes! Why did you guys do this to me and my mentality! I've been going to uncle joes for many years, most of the time going wayyyy out of my way. Today though..... I ordered lunch and the chicken is super old and dry, they just slathered sauce all over it to cover it up. Food tastes stale and Mac and cheese is dry and tasteless. Ughhhh!! I hate being disappointed at my comfort spot! ‍

Super good . The sauce is just right ... not pricey . Worth the wait (20 min max). Try it !!!!!

This was our first meal when we came to Chicago. We ordered togo on the phone and the order was ready when we got there! The price and the portion were great! The shared 3 chickens, cabbage, and rice between 6 people, and we were thinking that we would have too much but no, it was so good that we finished it all! The flavor of the chicken was amazing. The sauce they gave us had a really nice kick to it, I'm about to drool as I'm writing this review LOL This is the perfect definition of comfort food, the cabbage was delicious but super oily. This was my first time having Jamaican dishes, I'm going to have to try to find this in California.

Whenever, I'm come out to the Southside Of Chicago. I have to stop over in Hyde Park to get me some jerk chicken from Uncle Joe's. The 1/2 Jerk Chicken meal is all that and more. Anytime, me and the best travel that far for some food you know its delicious. The prices are very reasonable and you get a nice portion of food. Rice cabbage and other side item on the menu. Tbe staff is pretty nice at times. Its just one young guy that takes the order always seems unhappy and a bit rude. Sometimes its a long wait on your food. But its well worth the wait time and long drive out to Hyde Park for Uncle Joe's Jerk Food

I just don't understand how you leave people on hold for over ten minutes. Are you really that busy or just rude? Then you hang up. You are losing business and I cannot in good conscience refer anyone to you because of it.

Okay recently went here, and was very disappointed with my food. The jerk chicken was dry and over cooked to the point where the meat was stuck on the bones. I also bought my "usual " oxtails w/ extra gravy. It wasn't gravy, but just a whole lot of grease in the bottom of my container. The gravy is usually brown thick and flavorful, this was just orangish red grease. My rice and peas had a slight charred taste to them too. The oxtails were also lacking in flavor. I don't know if they have someone new in the kitchen cooking or if this was just an off order???? Let's just say we won't be breaking our necks to stop here again. I've always loved my food here and this was so DISAPPOINTING.