20 YEARS IN, THE JERK PIT TURNS UP THE HEAT IN ADAMS MORGAN

Jamaica native and Howard alum Lisa Waddell-Nash has been delivering spice at the Jerk Pit in College Park, Maryland, for two decades. This past summer, she brought the heat of the island to the heart of a popular Northwest neighborhood (2436 18th Street NW).

Waddell-Nash describes the Jerk Pit as the ultimate place to “hang out, eat, and chill” — and Adams Morgan offered the right vibe on a bustling corridor to continue to share the spices and flavors from the Jamaica of her youth. “I love my culture and our food, and get to share it with our community,” she says. The move to AdMo was logical: “It’s a great location with a lot of space in a busy part of town.”

In College Park, the Jerk Pit catered to college kids and suburbanites, drawn to the restaurant’s cozy digs in a converted home splashed with colorful, vibrant murals, and an outdoor porch. Today, she runs the business with her husband and two children, infusing her food with familial comfort.

The Adams Morgan locale has taken it up a step — or three. The tri-level building boasts a rooftop and much larger kitchen, allowing the Jerk Pit to flex even more traditional Jamaican dishes and events. There are already daily lunch and happy hour specials, plus a bottomless brunch popular with the young AdMo crowds. Music carries over from College Park: live reggae on Sundays, karaoke on Thursdays, and a DJ on Friday and Saturday nights. Doors open at 11 a.m. daily and stay open until 3 a.m. on the weekends for the post-bar crowd.

Even with the move, Waddell-Nash refuses to compromise on the authenticity she sees as central to the Jerk Pit’s menu.“We import most of our seasonings,” she says, “and maintain the ingredients and methods of cooking.” While her restaurant is named for the traditional cooking method, the Jerk Pit kicked off with a simple grill: starting off small but with a grander vision in mind, recalling the pits used to cook meat at home in Jamaica.

Now, the large menu draws from across the island and taste traditions. Favorite apps and snacks include jerk wings and several types of patties (turnovers) filled with meat or veggies. She also serves other traditional items like festival (sweet fried bread), bun and cheese sandwiches, and callaloo (stewed greens), along with simple salads, sandwiches, and wraps.

Beyond the jerk chicken mainstay — a quarter, half, or whole — the Jerk Pit cooks salmon, shrimp, whitefish, pork, and tofu in the traditional jerk style. Curries and stews also feature proteins like goat and peas (red beans). On the sweet side, a trio of cakes: carrot, rum, and sweet potato.

Imported Jamaican beers and sodas share space with ginger beers made in-house, some infused with pineapple or cucumber. The cocktails “are designed to give you a Caribbean feel and look with colorful layered drinks,” Waddell-Nash says, including the signature rum punch made with Jamaican Wray & Nephew Overproof Rum and balanced with tropical fruit juices.

In addition to Jamaican cuisine, the Jerk Pit also has a hint of other Caribbean islands, like Trinidad and Tobago. “We sell Trini favorites such as roti, buss-up-shut, and doubles,” Waddell-Nash notes.

Getting the Jerk Pit off the ground took some elbow grease. A young woman new to the industry after leaving telecom and marketing, Waddell-Nash encountered resistance to her entrepreneurial efforts. “At the start, I did not have the credit or the assets, and nobody wanted to lend me money. I had to mortgage my house in order to get the money to start the business,” she says. “I could barely afford to keep the restaurant open, much less keep staff.”

The Jerk Pit took off as she established it as a fiercely community-centric spot and made the painted clapboard house feel like a home for every customer who walked in. The restaurant survived pandemic restrictions through deliveries and longstanding ties. After two decades, Waddell-Nash realized it was time to expand. “We have outgrown our little space and we make the best of it, but it’s time to spread our wings,” she says.

2025-02-07T21:31:24Z