Our writer found delicious Jamaican food in an unexpected Utah place. Here’s where.

This article is excerpted from the Utah Eats newsletter. To get the full newsletter every Wednesday, subscribe at sltrib.com/newsletters.

Hello, Eaters! I recently took a trip to Southern California, and on the way back to Salt Lake City, my dining companion and I stopped at a restaurant in St. George that you should know about.

It’s called Papa’s Got Jerk, which serves authentic Jamaican food, and is at 250 Red Cliffs Drive, Suite 16B, in The Shoppes at Zion shopping center in St. George. It’s not far from Interstate 15, and is a friendly, casual spot on the way to or from Zion National Park, Las Vegas and other points south.

The owner of Papa’s Got Jerk, Cheryl Walker-Ashcraft, is originally from Kingston, Jamaica. She was first “let loose” in the kitchen to cook for her family at age 8, but she had been cooking and watching her dad (aka Papa) and grandmother cook long before that, she said.

The first meal she made without any help was curry chicken, with white rice, cabbage and carrots. Walker-Ashcraft even killed and cleaned the chicken herself, “so it was literally farm to table,” she said.

Despite her passion for cooking, when Walker-Ashcraft got older, she went into business administration and human resources, she said. But when she and her dad would spend time together, they liked to create new dishes, or cook their favorites, and she would cook at family gatherings.

In 2003, Walker-Ashcraft moved to Utah from New York City, and a couple of years later, her dad joined her. In 2010, they started going around to different fairs and festivals selling Jamaican food out of a tent, and in 2012, they started Papa’s Got Jerk.

Shortly after that, her dad died of cancer, and Walker-Ashcraft stepped away from catering commercially for a few years.

But in 2021, she opened her brick-and-mortar, and in 2024, she started a Papa’s Got Jerk food truck.

All of the items on the menu are dishes she and her dad liked to cook together, and all of the recipes come from Walker-Ashcraft’s grandparents, she said.

At Papa’s Got Jerk, “we cook from our hearts,” Walker-Ashcraft said. “Nothing that I cook in my kitchen is mass produced … nothing is frozen, nothing is pre-cooked. Everything is made fresh, and it literally is a home-cooked meal.”

When you sit at a table at Papa’s Got Jerk, make sure to take in what Walker-Ashcraft calls the “dedication wall,” which has photos and maps and memorabilia that all tie back to her dad. On every table is a box of dominoes, which are a “big thing” in Jamaica, she said, and one of her dad’s favorite games.

Walker-Ashcraft said her culture “runs very deep, and I honor it every day, not just through my dad, but to what I deliver to the customers.”

Papa’s Got Jerk is open Mondays 4 to 8 p.m.; Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. It’s closed on Sundays.

To read about what I ordered at Papa’s Got Jerk, scroll down to the Dish of the Week section of this newsletter.

Live deliciously,

Kolbie

Food News

Father’s Day is Sunday, and if you’d like to make some memories with your pops instead of getting him the same old necktie, here are some Utah restaurants that are holding special brunches and dinners centered around Dad:

• Bambara, 202 S. Main St., Salt Lake City • Bourbon brunch, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Reservations on OpenTable.

• Franck’s Restaurant, 6263 S. Holladay Blvd., Holladay • Four-course brunch, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; $85 for adults, $45 for kids 12 and under. Reservations on OpenTable.

• Hearth and Hill, 2188 S. Highland Dr., Salt Lake City • A Father’s Day special, serving four people for $195, prix fixe menu. Reservations via Hearth-hill.com.

• Hearth and Hill, 1153 Center Dr., Park City • A Father’s Day barbecue plate with brisket and spare ribs, $40 per guest. Reservations encouraged, at Hearth-hill.com.

• Sterling Steak & Lounge, 1242 Center Drive, Suite 100, Park City • Brunch buffet, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; $69 for adults, kids under 12 pay their age. Reservations on OpenTable.

• Tupelo, 1500 Kearns Blvd., Park City • Unlimited prime rib dinner; $75 per person. Reservations on Resy.

• Tuscany, 2832 E. 6200 South, Salt Lake City • Brunch buffet, which closes at 2:30 p.m.; $85 for adults, $45 for kids 12 and under. Reservations on OpenTable.

• Urban Hill, 510 S. 300 West, Salt Lake City • Brunch buffet, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; $79 per adult, $35 per child. Reservations at Urban-hill.com.

Openings:

• Cluck Truck, a Utah food truck known for its fried chicken and fries, is opening its first brick-and-mortar location, at 285 W. 800 South (where Yoko Taco used to be). The owners will be holding a grand opening celebration on Saturday, with a ribbon-cutting at noon.

Closings:

• Pigeon Alley Coffee, which made a home in the pickup window at the Sugar House Pretty Bird location, at 675 E. 2100 South in Salt Lake City, is closing a few months after opening, according to an Instagram post. The owner, Jonathan Chen, said Wednesday will be his last day in business. “I have no foreseeable plans to reopen in a similar retail format elsewhere,” he said in his post.

Dish of the Week

At Papa’s Got Jerk, the brown stewed chicken ($16.50) was calling to me because the employee behind the counter said it “tasted like Sunday dinner.” Sold.

I ordered that dish, with Jamaican rice & peas (kidney beans) and sauteed and steamed cabbage & carrots on the side.

To make brown stewed chicken, owner Cheryl Walker-Ashcraft told me that first the chicken is seasoned and then marinated for a couple of days, and then they fry it. Then they take the juices that the chicken marinated in, and put the fried chicken back into it (draining off any excess oil), add a little water, add veggies, and then just let it slowly simmer on low heat for a couple of hours, making the chicken tender and moist. At the end of the cooking process, they thicken up the juices to form a gravy, and serve the chicken with rice, your choice of side, and a little cup of the gravy to pour on top, if you like.

Walker-Ashcraft said brown stewed chicken is one of their most popular dishes. I found it to be exactly the kind of homey meal I was craving after a day of eating fast food and snacks in the car.