After perfecting their jerk sauce at their sister’s Montego Bay restaurant, siblings Boris and Michelle Reid decided in 2012 to open their own roadside smokehouse and jerk eatery. If Scotchies has the best jerk on the north coast road, MVP has the best on the main road headed west out of Montego Bay.

Though it sounds a bit like it might be a sports bar, MVP actually stands for “Medina Valley Pride,” named after the Reid’s native corner of Jamaica, where they first learned the art of the Jamaican jerk: Sauce the chicken, pork, or ribs with a sweet-and-spicy Scotch bonnet glaze then slow-grill it over coals between a layer of pimento logs for flavor and a corrugated tin sheet to hold in the the heat and smoke. The Reids believe in all-natural ingredients, eschewing the shortcuts often used by lesser jerk joints (MSG and refined sugar) in favor of herbs grown in their own garden.


Though low-key and rustic, this tented building is also has the most upscale culinary offerings of any area jerk shacks, with sandwiches and wraps, fish served steamed with water crackers or escoveitched (fried, with a spicy glaze), curried goat, shrimp and lobster, and more. Order a side of roasted sweet potato, breadfruit, brown rice and “peas” (kidney beans), or festival (Jamaican hush puppies).