In June of 2000, Chef Wylton Distin located an abandoned restaurant on 1100 N. La Brea Avenue in Inglewood, California that blossomed into a thriving food eatery.

Traveling along La Brea corridor just north of Centinela, is a walk-up and order restaurant with two small bench tables with limited indoor seating and a table with two chairs outside called “Hungry Joes Burgers & Jamaican Restaurant”.

It began as an all hamburger spot that bloomed into a taste for the Jamaican palate.

Chef Distin who is from Negril, Jamaica, would dine at popular West Indian restaurants and concluded he could prepare other dishes as well, so he expanded his burger menu to include Jamaican dishes.

It wasn’t long before word got around the community that Hungry Joe’s was a really good spot serving up a reputation for great-tasting authentic Jamaican meals.  Among the most popular orders to date are Jerk Chicken and Oxtail dinners.

While conversing with Chef Distin about his friendly staff members Chris & Carlton, he alluded to the fact that popular Reggae Artists stop by to order when in Los Angeles to perform.

World-renowned Reggae artist Sean Kingston is a regular customer at Hungry Joe’s and other artists like Beenie Man and Sanchez stop by when in town.  They enjoy the welcome along with the meals. I inquired about having their favorite dishes titled after them. He stated that might be a possibility.

The menu has a variety of choices, with standard daily meals, and a selection of soup of the day.  Be sure to check the menu, as each day has its own flavor.

If you are a vegetarian, stop by on Thursdays for the Red Pea Soup and if you are intrigued with the authentic, try Chicken Foot Soup serve on Fridays.

Now the burger varieties are beef, turkey and veggie with a good combination of prices.

For a Jamaican meal, I recommend Brown Stew Chicken because the taste is so good.  The veggies I had consisted of cabbage with red and green bell peppers and kernels of corn sprinkled throughout.

Another option is fried fish with Bammy (Bammy is a traditional Jamaican cassava flatbread descended from the simple flatbread eaten by the Arawaks, Jamaica’s original inhabitant).

Homemade juices will go well with all food. Try the Carrot Beet juice – delicious & nutritious.

Projection for the future of the restaurant is to be opened 7 days a week with a shorter day on Sunday. This will be determined by the economy.

Meanwhile look for Hungry Joes online at www.restaurant.com, as well as e-blasts on lunch specials.

Look for the print advertisement in the CaribPress Newspaper.