Jamaican Favorite 'The Islands' Is Moving to Bigger Digs in Crown Heights

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Local Jamaican favorite The Islands is getting a bigger home, and will be expanding its menu in the process.

In August, Patch reported that the Key Food at 801 Washington Ave. will be shutting down early next year so its property can be turned into an apartment building with a new Key Food on the first floor.

The redevelopment project will also likely force out the Bk Museum Gourmet Deli and Ludwig's Drug Store, which are adjacent to the supermarket (though Richard Mastrota, the owner of Ludwig's as well as its pharmacist, said he might try to set up shop in the new supermarket).

The Island's, however, has taken the change as an opportunity to expand dramatically.

Owner Marilyn Reid said she opened the restaurant 15 years ago, adding that it's always occupied the same small space, with a few stools downstairs and a handful to tables above accessible by a tight staircase.

But now, she'll be taking over the former Janelle's Carribean American Cuisine & Bar, located at 671 Washington Ave. In the process, Reid she'll be adding numerous tables, a bar, and start serving breakfast and lunch. She also plans to be open seven days per week.

What won't change, she said, is the restaurant's core Jamaican menu, featuring classics like jerk chicken, oxtail, shepherd's pie, escoveitched snapper, and okra and codfish.

Reid said she's currently working to design the new restaurant, and hopes to move in by December or January. She said she'll also be hiring to staff the new space, though that process hasn't started yet.

The Islands can be reached by phone at 718-398-3575, and you can check out the hundreds of reviews it has received on Yelp.

Pictured at top: Marilyn Reid, owner of The Islands. Photos by John V. Santore.