This small, drive-thru place in Macon is the real deal. Authentic Caribbean food anyone?
Winston Cunningham, a native of Jamaica, has always wanted to own his own restaurant.
He’s been a chef his entire adult life, working at restaurants and hotels mostly in Jamaica and then New York.
In late December, Winston and his wife, Sherwauna, took the plunge and opened their own family restaurant in Macon.
The couple own and operate Crooklyn New York Caribbean Cuisine at 3924 Pio Nono Ave., a small drive-thru restaurant in the South Plaza Shopping Center.
The eatery also has a walk-up window and a few patio tables.
The establishment’s name is a nod to Spike Lee’s 1994 film “Crooklyn” that’s loosely based on what he and his siblings experienced growing up in Brooklyn, New York, which is where the Cunninghams met and made their home before moving to Macon.
“We just wanted a change,” said Sherwauna, who also has her own online business, Sweet Diva’s Hair Boutique, and has operated her own daycare businesses.
“My husband has been a chef all his life and I do it on the side. He’s the primary chef.”
Winston added that his wife is a good cook in her own right.
What to expect
Their restaurant offers authentic Caribbean cuisine. The couple’s youngest son, Tyler, 15, also works at the restaurant on weekends.
“This is the best restaurant in Macon,” Daniel Blackshear volunteered as he pulled up to order at the drive-thru.
Motorists drive up on one side of the restaurant and pick up their food on the other side.
What sets Crooklyn New York Caribbean Cuisine apart from other eateries, Blackshear said, is the “seasoned and flavorful” food.
Besides, the owners are friendly, he said.
On their business website, the Cunninghams described their establishment this way:
“We are a small Caribbean restaurant which serves real authentic Caribbean food. You wanna feel like you’re in Jamaica, Trinidad come eat with us. We promise you will love the hands that feed you.”
On a recent visit, Blackshear ordered grilled shrimp with cabbage and peas and rice. He most often orders their fried chicken.
What to try
Among the restaurant’s most popular dishes are oxtails, curry goat and jerk chicken, said Sherwauna, who suggested also trying jerk pork or cow foot.
Picking one dish, Winston suggested the jerk chicken for someone new to Caribbean cuisine.
Daily specials on a recent visit included a choice of curry chicken, jerk chicken or brown-stew chicken as well as two-pieces of curry, steamed or brown-stew tilapia.
The oxtails came with two side dishes such as cooked cabbage and rice and peas.
Other entrees include steamed, brown-stew or escovitch red snapper, curry chicken, jerk chicken and brown-stew chicken. They also serve jerk, curry, curry-coconut and brown-stew shrimp.
More options
Soups include corn soup, chicken soup and fish soup.
Wraps include ranch chicken, jerk chicken, grilled chicken, ranch shrimp, jerk shrimp and Gulf shrimp with or without fries.
The menu also features chicken wings, fried whiting and fried shrimp. Roti can be filled with vegetables, curry or brown-stew shrimp, ackee and saltfish, curry or brown-stew chicken, curry goat or oxtail.
Fried patties include beef, jerk chicken, curry chicken, spinach and veggies. For veggie lovers, there’s dumplings and callaloo with or without rice.
Sides include white rice, fried plantains, rice and peas or collards, cranberry rice, veggie fried rice, rasta pasta, steamed veggies and mac & cheese. The restaurant also offers fries and sweet potato fries.
Desserts include cheesecake, red velvet cake, fruitcake, banana cake and strawberry cake. Drink selections include Coca-Cola products and assorted juices.
Other restaurants previously have operated out of the drive-thru building, including J.A. Cuisine that offered Jamaican food.
Worth noting
The Cunninghams plan to set up a food tent at the 2023 Pan African Festival at the Macon Centreplex on Saturday and Sunday.
Crooklyn New York Caribbean Cuisine is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and offers call-ahead ordering as well as catering. The restaurant’s number is 478-259-1435.
This story was originally published April 21, 2023 at 5:00 AM.