South African chain supporting Atlanta Jamaican restaurant after fire
ATLANTA - A popular Jamaican restaurant that suffered a devastating fire in April is getting a little bit of help from an international restaurant chain.
Nando's PERi-PERi Chicken, a South African chain with two restaurants coming to Atlanta, is footing the bill for 404 free meals from the Dat Fire Jerk Chicken food truck on Tuesday.
The food truck is parked in front of what was the restaurant on Northside Drive, which has been reduced to rubble.
The public is invited to enjoy a free meal from Dat Fire starting at noon.
"It’s good, I love the jerk sauce," said Safir Monroe. "We’ve got jerk sauce and chicken spread out a little bit, but pretty good cabbage and I am excited to finish the rest."
Any meals left over after 4 p.m. will be donated to PAWkids.
"Just wanted to come and show my support for them," one woman said. "I know how hard it is for black businesses and smaller black businesses to rebuild themselves after something so traumatic like that, but to see that Nando's is supporting them is awesome."
MORE: Dat Fire Jerk Chicken's plan to rise from the ashes
Jamaican restaurant fire doesn't slow chef down
A popular Jamaican restaurant went up in flames over the weekend in Atlanta's Castleberry Hill neighborhood but that’s not the end of this story. Despite the restaurant being in ruins the team still served up fresh food at the site on Northside Drive near Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
A Nando’s spokesperson says their goal was simple: help a restaurant down on its luck.
"Atlanta has a rich history where food brings people together," said Krista McLay from Nando’s. "It's very similar to our roots being a South African brand so that's why we're here today. We want to give that corner for meals and raise some funds to rebuild the restaurant."
For Dat Fire’s owner Chef Jay John, the support means a lot.
"The restaurant community, hospitality community as a whole has just been so wonderful during this tragic time," he said.
The Dat Fire food truck
Since the fire, Chef John and his team have operated from their food truck. There’s no timeline for rebuilding, but he vows they will be back and says what Nando's did will go a long way to making that happen.
"If I got to be here seven days a week, 24 hours a day, we want to make sure that we get rebuilt as soon as possible," he said.
"As a fellow flame-grilled dining destination that recognizes the importance of serving the authentic flavors of different cultures to the community, we were heartbroken to hear that Dat Fire Jerk Chicken caught fire," Nando’s PERi-PERi Chicken USA CEO John Fisher said in a statement. "We are honored to support Dat Fire and their campaign to rebuild by helping them serve the Atlanta community with their famous jerk chicken."
The owners have also launched a GoFundMe to help with the rebuilding effort.