At Jerky’s Northern Restaurant it feels a bit like Cheers , the 80s US sitcom, where everybody knew your name. This diner-style fast-food joint has been serving up its signature fried chicken and jerk pork for almost 40 years, and its regulars — like Shanty Sewell, who was at Jerky’s for lunch on her birthday — rarely miss a dining moment. A concierge at one of the resorts in Runaway Bay, Sewell has breakfast here every day, and, very often, lunch too.

“How was your weekend, Carol?” Sewell asks Jerky’s owner Carol Jones.

“Oh, you don’t want to know,” responds Jones.

You see, Jones’s weekends offer no respite for her hectic weekdays; they are probably even busier. Jerky’s opens at 6:00 am and closes at midnight every day. And Jones does it all — the purchasing, accounts, supervising deliveries, even chipping in when the chef doesn’t turn up for work. She grew up in the business, and has always lived close by or on the property. Her parents, Wilfred and Icyline, started Jerky’s in 1975, first in Ocho Rios before settling in Salem.

The recipe for Jerky’s famous fried chicken is a closely guarded family secret, one that Jones refuses to divulge. What she will say is that it starts with The Best Dressed Chicken. She remembers as a teen having to leave Salem in the wee hours of the morning to get to Flat Bridge in Bog Walk to buy chicken from what was then The Best Dressed Chicken depot. “That was way back when chicken wasn’t as available as now. We used to have to go and wait for the truck to come. Nowadays, delivery is like clockwork right at my door, so it makes what we do a lot easier,” she says.

Jones has watched the business grow, initially from being a jerk joint, serving just chicken and pork, to becoming even more well-known for its fried chicken. There is now a Jerky’s bar next door, and a pastry shop. Long before the North Coast Highway Jerky’s was the definitive rest stop between Ocho Rios and Montego Bay for just about every tourist and family outing. The Best Dressed Chicken Marketing and Sales Officer Lincoln Robinson will attest to this. He hails from Montego Bay and has been eating here since he was a child. “Any time we were going on church trips or excursions, we would stop off here,” he says.

When Jones’s father began ailing in 1999, she took over. A single mother, she runs her family empire tirelessly. She keeps an eye on the jerk chicken and jerk pork cooking on the outdoor grill with wood even as she plans the day’s menu, which includes all styles of chicken, fish and soup, as well as cow foot and oxtail.

Jones says revenue has taken a hit in recent times, with competition from cook shops and restaurants emerging along the coast — all vying for her customers. One thing she knows for sure is that as a small business, relationships matter in a big way. “People make this business — my customers, my suppliers like The Best Dressed Chicken, my banker, all of them! Jerky’s only does as well as the relationships I have with all of them,” she says.

The challenges of running Jerky’s keep hitting hard but Jones is grateful to be still standing, so she continues to juggle the bills and run a tight operation to keep her family’s legacy afloat. Luckily, the famous fried chicken and the landmark location always make this a great pit stop for busloads of travellers — and of course the diehard regulars.

Changing times won’t stop Jones from giving it her best shot.