It may not be a fast food restaurant, but the service here sure is quick. This small simple booth on the corner of Lake and California is a stop by/take out stop for the locals. Right under the Green Line California stop the folks here keep it simple: It's just food.

There is no indoor seating, decoration or waiters; but there is a long list of chicken specials. All dinners are served with rice and beans and two additional sides, cornbread or Jamaican bread. The Ja’s specialty is the Jamaican jerk chicken, which is barbecued in Jamaican spices that contain nutmeg and cinnamon.

Dinners range from $7.95 for four jerk wings and rice to whole jerk chicken at $14.95. For the, ahem, health conscious, they serve salads ($4.95-$8.95) and a Jamaican veggie pattie ($2.50).

And for the sweet tooth, choose from a Southern-style selection of desserts like Mama’s sweet potato pie or Southern style peach cobbler (all for $3.50).

Average cost: <$10

Centerstage Reviewer: Beatrice Smigasiewicz