Wally B's Jamaican Jerk spices up Regina's Caribbean food scene

This story was originally publishedAug 18, 2022.

Walk in for lunch at the new Wally B's Jamaican Jerk Restaurant in Regina, and you're greeted by easy flowing reggae tunes, island decor, and a rotating pair of authentic lunch features and often Wally B himself.

There is a natural warmth to the owner, n Walleston Stephenson, and that translates to his offerings.

"I tell customers, 'You see these hands? These made the food you're eating. That's me on the plate. That menu up there? Everything is good. If it wasn't 110 per cent good, it wouldn't make it on the menu. What you're eating? It was made with love.'"

What he makes with love are Jamaican staples: jerk chicken and pork, oxtail, curry goat, and ackee and saltfish. You can also grab a Jamaican patty or fried bread for a bite on the go.

The restaurant is small it maybe seats 25 but even that is authentically Jamaican.

"If you go to Jamaica, you'll see lots of jerk chicken shacks at the side of the road, with plastic tables and chairs for customers," said Stephenson. "This is sort of like that."

Turning a passion into business

Stephensonhails from Clarendon, Jamaica. He immigrated to Canada in 2004, arriving in Scarborough, Ont., before moving to Regina for work in 2007.

Stephenson'smom taught him and his siblings how to cook.

"I was always at the kitchen door peeking inand paying attention," he said.

That passion for cooking grew while helping his cousin, Dave Hall, run a Caribbean buffet at the Orr Centre.

Over the years, friends would ask him to make Jamaican food and many encouraged him to open a restaurant.

"I had to satisfy these people who kept asking me for my food," he said.

He opened Wally B's on 11th Avenue, just east of Winnipeg Street, in late June.

What is jerk?

Jerk is a blend of herbs and spices. According to food historians, the word "jerk" is the Spanish twist on the Peruvian term "charqui"' which refers to the salted, dried meat we know commonly today as "jerky." Jerk is found all over the Caribbean, with regional and individual tweaks to the recipe.

"I might use five spices in there; another person might use seven; another might use nine," said Stephenson.

Heuses the Walkerswood and Grace brands of jerk sauce, in addition to his own blend of seasoning. Stephenson seasons the meat and marinates it overnight. He makes it spicy but not too spicy. For those who want to take it up a notch, there's hot sauce on the tables, and he keeps Bertie's Scorpion Pepper Sauce from Trinidad and Tobago tucked away in the kitchen.

In Jamaica, jerk shacks grill the chicken in 45-gallon oil drums converted into barbecues.

"Some use charcoal and others use the pimento wood to give it a distinctive flavour," said Stephenson. "I use an oven, but I add pimento seed, which I grind up, to give it some of that flavour."

A taste of the island

Most of Wally B's customers aren't Jamaican but have travelled there on holidays, said Stephenson. People have driven in from Moose Jaw, Estevan and Yorkton to taste his cooking.

Stephenson said getting positive customer reviews makes him feel "worthy" of the local dining scene. He's proud to carry the Jamaican flag.

As you'll see on the wall of his restaurant, he's also proud to carry the flag of the Saskatchewan Roughriders some of whom are loyal patrons. The receiving corps and coach Travis Moore come in for a meal the day before every home game.

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Wally B's is only open for lunch Tuesday to Saturday, as Stephenson splits time between the restaurant and his full-time job at Brewers Distributor Limited.You can find daily specials on their Facebook page.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.