Duwayne Hall was in the kitchen, watching his mother, Eva, cook when she was pulled away. Hungry, he finished preparing the meal for her.
He hasn’t stopped since.
Eleven years ago, he opened the brick-and-mortar version of his food truck, D’s Island Grill Jamaica, in Tucson. He will celebrate the eatery’s anniversary with a party featuring prizes and music on Saturday, March 9. DJ Jahmar Anthony (see related story) will spin from 6 to 8 p.m. Eva and Hall’s father, Winston, are now his partners in D’s Island Grill.
Hall, who founded D’s Island Grill as a food truck 14 years ago, said oxtail stew is a top seller at his restaurant. The dish features meat marinated in various Jamaican seasonings and slow cooked with thyme, bell peppers, carrots, onions and potatoes ($25).
Another popular dish is the bone-in jerk chicken, which is marinated in Jamaican spices, slow cooked, grilled and topped with house jerk sauce ($18.99).
“Honestly, everything that we have here sells,” he said. “When they say, ‘What’s good?’ I say, ‘Everything is good. It’s kind of hard. With the jerk chicken, we season it with Jamaican seasonings and rub, marinate it for at least 24 hours and smoke it in the back. The sauce we make in-house.”
Other entrees include dishes made with callaloo, a plant frequently used in stew; goat curry, which is marinated in Jamaican seasonings and slow cooked with thyme, bell pepper, carrots, onions and potatoes; jerk tequila-glazed shrimp. Most of the dishes are gluten free and include rice and peas and vinegar-based coleslaw. Cooking time ranges from 10 to 40 minutes.
For the not-so-adventurous, D’s Island Grill serves its spin on Southwestern dishes like jerk chicken tacos, marinated grilled chicken breast, served on flour tortilla with cheese, a side of jerk sauce, salsa and coleslaw.
Hall moved from Jamaica to Tucson in 2001, yearning to be a mechanic. Facing immigration red tape, Hall pivoted to what he knew best: cooking. He’s been successful in the food and beverage industry since, having worked his way up from a $5.15-per-hour job at Eegee’s to a restaurateur.
“I started at Eegee’s, and then they offered me a promotion,” he said. “After three months, I was a shift manager. Then, after that, six months later, I received another promotion to assistant manager; after a year, store manager.
“I stepped down to assistant manager because there was too much to do. I ended up at Coca-Cola, where I worked in the warehouse for two years. After that, I was hired at Lowe’s Ventana Canyon Resort as a temp. I did my three months with them, they liked the way I worked, so they hired me. The only downside of that was I took the job for less money than I was making. I was a sponge. I wanted to absorb as much as I could learn. It was a pay cut, but it proved to be a stepping stone to where I am now.”
With D’s Island Grill, Hall doesn’t consider it “work” or a “job.” Cooking is just something he likes to do.
“It’s hectic,” he said with a laugh. “If I have an idea and it doesn’t work, I try a different way to see if that works. I just love what I do.”
D’s Island Grill Jamaica
3156 E. Fort Lowell, Tucson
520-861-2271
www.dsislandgrill.com
dugaljamaica@gmail.com
