Trade Winds Caribbean Foods

Trade Winds is a combination island grocery store and carryout. This little gem is located across the street from the vast wasteland formerly known as Randall Park (which seems to be amplified ten fold in the dead of winter).

Since I was going to be driving through the area on my way back from the west side, I figured I'd stop in and pickup some carryout for dinner. I kind of already knew what I was going to be ordering when I walked in - even though I had never been there before. A good jerk chicken is hard to find and I figured what better place to try than here.

I gave a cursory look at the menu, but decided quickly on an order of the jerk chicken with a side of red beans and rice. (While not as bad as a misspelled sign, I was absolutely flummoxed by the idea of a carryout business not having any takeout menus - especially if there's no website. Trade Winds has neither a website nor menus for you to take home. Ouch!)

The dinner was somewhere in the range of $8-10, which is about what I would expect to pay for an order of this size. The seasoned pieces of chicken were of good size, very moist, with a jerk sauce poured over the top. While not the baked on blackened kind of jerk that I'm used to, the greenish sauce had a well developed depth to its heat. The red beans and rice also had the jerk seasoning drizzled on top, which I thought was really good.

I can't really speak for the rest of the menu since I've only ever ordered the chicken. The inside of the space is extremely clean, with a modest selection of Caribbean groceries, and the service is very prompt and courteous. My only criticism is the lack of menus for impatient, call ahead types - like me.

Trade Winds Caribbean Foods
4681 Northfield Rd
Cleveland, OH 44128
(216) 663-9463