By Ivan Pereira
West Indian restaurants are not uncommon along the streets of southeast Queens, but Sharon Smith said her eatery is unique because it gives customers homemade service along with her homecooked meals.
St. Best Jerk Spot, at 112-31 Springfield Blvd., opened in February and has attracted hungry Queens Village customers who enjoy Smith's cooking. The secret, according to the restaurant's owner, is in the personal care and attention she spends on each dish.
“Sometimes they don't tell me what they want and just ask me to cook anything,” she said. “I know my customers well and prepare the food just the way they like it.”
St. Best's menu includes a variety of foods on the breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, including jerk chicken, pork, fish and seafood. Smith and her two assistant chefs also prepare some American dishes, such as macaroni and cheese and potato salad.
The restaurant's walls are colored bright orange and red and filled with photos of sunny Caribbean and West Indian locales. Smith said the interior was designed to make customers feel as if they were eating right in their own dining room.
“The moment I get into I work to see that my cooks and my customers can feel relaxed,” she said.
Smith worked at a variety of jobs before deciding to open up her own eatery, including one as a mortgage administrator at a bank. For years her friends and family had urged her to take her recipes to a bigger stage and she eventually decided to take that challenge.
“The main thing that made me do it was that the public wasn't getting the quality food that they needed. I know a lot of people like my jerk chicken and pork, so I decided to give it to them and more,” she said.
Regular customers like Tim Martin, 37, said they were glad she started her restaurant because it provides a pleasant atmosphere for a satisfied community.
“It's a small family-orientated business, so you feel at home and don't feel that you're pressured into getting something that you don't think you'd like,” he said.
Smith said she is grateful for her customers' support and hopes to continue serving their palates' desires.
“I really do like cooking for them,” she said of her customers. “They'll call me 'Mommy' and I love it.”
