Couple behind a real-deal Jamaican spot in Macon open 2nd place in Byron ... with a twist
The owners of a crowd-pleasing authentic Jamaican spot in Macon now have a second restaurant with a twist in Byron.
In late December 2022, Winston and Sherwauna Cunningham opened Crooklyn New York Caribbean Cuisine, a small drive-thru restaurant with a walk-up window and limited patio seating at 3924 Pio Nono Ave. in the South Plaza Shopping Center.
Monday, the couple opened their second family owned and operated restaurant, Crooklyn Roots at 100 Hamilton Pointe Drive, Suite 155.
What to expect
The new spot offers the same Jamaican cuisine that the Macon drive-thru is known for, plus savory vegan dishes.
Geared for takeout but with a few tables for dining in a cozy space, Crooklyn Roots is in the former location of Roots Plant Based Cafe, which served all vegan food with a touch of Jamaican flavor in the Hamilton Pointe Centre.
“We were looking to expand and the opportunity came,” Sherwauna Cunningham said of opening a second restaurant. “They were looking to sell their business and we decided to take it over.”
The Cunninghams purchased the cafe in the leased space with all of its furnishings and equipment in January.
The couple decided to “turn a little bit of vegan food into Jamaican” cuisine based on their recipes while also incorporating other vegan dishes such as vegetable lasagna into the menu, she said.
“We didn’t want to take out the vegan part of the restaurant because we know the people need it,” she said.
The Cunninghams chose the name Crooklyn Roots to connect the new spot and Jamaican cuisine with their Macon restaurant, she said. They also wanted to showcase that the new spot offers vegan food while giving a nod to the former cafe.
Also, Crooklyn 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. That’s where the Cunninghams met and made their home before moving to Macon.
“People were saying we need to come out to Byron or Warner Robins so this is the perfect spot,” said Cunningham of the restaurant’s location among a hub of restaurants off Ga. 49 near Interstate 75.
“We’re around all these American restaurants,” she said. “They have no Caribbean. So we’re bringing a new flavor.”
A family affair
Winston Cunningham, a native of Jamaica and a chef his entire adult life, always wanted to own his own restaurant. He worked at restaurants and hotels mostly in Jamaica and then New York before the couple opened Crooklyn New York Caribbean Cuisine.
He prepares most of the dishes at the new restaurant fresh daily before he heads to the Macon restaurant, where the couple’s nephew, Linden Didier, works with him. The fish — red snapper, tilapia and shrimp — and both meat and vegan wraps are made to order.
Sherwauna Cunningham manages the Byron restaurant. The couple’s son, Tyler Cunningham, works in the kitchen and their niece, Kayla Middleton, is responsible for making fresh beverages at the new spot. One of the beverages is sorrel, a sweet-tart, gingery hibiscus drink that is Jamaica’s national Christmas drink.
Best of both worlds
Crooklyn Roots features two large menu boards of authentic Jamaican dishes and two large menu boards of vegan dishes.
Jamaican meat options include oxtails, curry goat, cow foot, jerk chicken and brown stew chicken. Vegan choices include lasagna, spaghetti, a veggie plate of rice and peas, steamed vegetables and collard greens.
“What we’re known for is our dumpling and callalo — a combination of okra, spinach and dumplings,” Sherwauna Cunningham said. “It can also have rice.”
For those new to Jamaican cuisine, Cunningham suggested trying the oxtails. A vegan option Cunningham recommended was the rasta pasta.
The $12.50 lunch special on the Jamaican menu includes a choice of curry chicken, jerk chicken or brown stew chicken served with rice and vegetables.
The vegan lunch special is the same except with vegan substitutions for the meats such as tofu or mushrooms for the “chicken.”
The restaurant also offers soups: lentil and corn soups on the vegan menu and corn and fish soups on the Jamaican cuisine menu. Food choices like the corn soup and other veggie options are on both menus.
Don’t forget the plantains whether ordering a vegan or meat entree. Desserts are also offered.
To keep the meat and vegan options separate, the large kitchen is equipped with separate rice steamers for rice and peas, brown rice and white rice; an air fryer for vegan food; fryers for meats; and two stoves one for meats and one for vegan food.
The kitchen also is equipped with two warming units, one for the meat dishes and the other for the vegan dishes made in the morning. A salad bar refrigerator keeps all the salad fixings fresh for the salads they prepare.
Chris Johnson of Peach County, who stopped by the restaurant a few days before it opened, said he was looking forward to trying the cuisine.
“Jamaican cuisine is healthy,” Johnson said. “This location also has vegan Jamaican options.
“That’s good because it gives customers more selections.”
Noting that he’s part Jamaican, Johnson said he knows where all the Jamaican restaurants are in Middle Georgia and searches out any new ones.
He found the new Byron spot from a post on the Nextdoor app.
“We’re bringing healthy living to Middle Georgia — a taste of spice, a taste of the Caribbean,” Cunningham said. “So if you can’t travel to the West Indies, we’re bringing it right here to the states.”
Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The restaurant is expected to offer online ordering and delivery through DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats. The number is 478-219-2415.
