Photo Credit: Juan Miguel Martinez
At the always bustling intersection of Capitol and Fond du Lac sits a stretch of block with many small businesses that thrive on the North Side of Milwaukee. One of the busiest is Uppa Yard, specializing in Jamaican cuisine. The restaurant is run by father and son Oliver Edwards and Oliver Edwards, Jr. It recently moved into its home on 4943 W. Fond Du Lac after needing a larger space than the one that previously housed it a few doors down. The interior is painted in black, yellow and green, the colors of the Jamaican flag. Ragga (not to be confused with reggae) music, a fast and exuberant Jamaican sub-genre with rapped lyrics blasts over the speakers. There is a waiting area with a wraparound banquette and the dining area has tables separated by plastic dividers, complying with COVID safety precautions.
“All of these recipes come from my great grandmother, Lena Francis. She passed away in September 2019 at the age of 96. She cooked in the backyard for all her kids and their kids. She had 12 kids of her own, so she was used to cooking for large crowds. She scaled her own fish and slaughtered her own chickens,” Oliver reminisces. “My father and his family emigrated to Milwaukee in 1981 from Old Harbor, St. Catherine, about four miles outside of Kingston,” he adds. The business is completely family owned and operated.
“We try to keep the food as authentic as possible and sort of have the favorites that everyone knows,” he says. Jerk chicken, curry goat are the two staples and bestsellers at Uppa Yard, along with rice and peas and steamed cabbage as the sides. “Sometimes we will make the dishes that are more region specific and are favorites of the island. Dishes like steamed fish and chicken feet stew,” explains Oliver. There are daily specials like jerk alfredo and curry shrimp as well, but jerk chicken is the draw. It is a dish that many Jamaican folk hold sacred and close, as it is one of those dishes that can be made many ways but everyone’s recipe is secret.
Photo Credit: Juan Miguel Martinez
“We call the restaurant Uppa Yard because it is essentially backyard food that we make,” Oliver says. Keeping with that same spirit of being outside and in a yard, is a bar inside of the restaurant, but is a separate business. The bar is called Concoctions and is the brainchild of Hyacinth Nembhardt, who wanted to make tropical drinks to compliment the food that is being served. There are Mai Tais, frozen drinks, all with names like “Twisted wildberry lemonade.” The dessert fridge is stocked with delicacies made by Africa Lucas, who owns a company called Delushus and has banana pudding, devil's food cake and many others to go follow up a meal.
Upstairs from Uppa Yard are four other businesses, a real estate brokerage, a salon, a clothing store, and a barber shop. “We are trying to build a hub for our people. A lot of people want to do their part and get put on and it’s important we help as much as we can,” Oliver says. He is only 23 and has big plans to continue honoring his family's legacy. There is a possibility of an Uppa Yard food truck on the horizon, as he wants to make sure the entire city can enjoy the kick of his great grandmother's recipes. “I would set up anywhere, and hopefully we can get back into the festival scene soon, once the pandemic is over,” he says. Let’s hope so. Everyone must try these dishes.
