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This venue is closed.

This location of the Golden Krust franchise, near Madison Square Garden, has some unusual features: a formal private dining room, rentable for parties; free wi-fi; and a sizable backyard patio. But it is a chain, so the look—yellow walls and African-inspired art—and the menu of Caribbean favorites like oxtail stew and baked goods is the same as that of the other 99 restaurants. The patties (like “chee-zee beef”) are exactly what you’d expect frozen patties to be, and the sliced fish has seen better days, but the jerk chicken, smothered in sauce and served with a large portion of rice and beans, is toothsome. As odd as it seems to order a salad in a place that treats vegetables mostly as a sop for gravy, the jerk chicken salad here is a steal: enormous, fresh, and cheap (take that, Micky D’s!). Golden Krust is uneven and far from healthy, but there’s something to be said for fast food that’s pungent, messy, and—unlike the processed offerings at a lot of joints—real. — Melena Ryzik

Jerk chicken, $6.50-$9.25