Riddim n Spice

Looking for a one-of-a-kind restaurant with a blend of Caribbean cuisine? Known for their spicy jerk chicken, Riddim n Spice is a Caribbean restaurant currently based on Meharry Boulevard. The concept began with two brothers, Kamal Kalokoh and Rashean Conaway, who started with a food truck in 2014. But their inspiration came from their mother, who operated Jamaicaway out of the Nashville Farmer’s Market. After five years on the food truck circuit, they opened this location “[as a] homage to their Jamaican roots and love of all Caribbean culture.” The space welcomes you with upbeat music, a colorful interior, and in 2022 they added “The Rum Room” to augment the food experience.

Riddim n Spice is flanked by two HBCUs, Fisk University and Meharry Medical College. These schools may not have Jamaican roots, but they have a long history of social activism. When the Civil War ended in April 1865, Congress established an agency known as the Freedmen’s Bureau. General Clinton B. Fisk led the effort to open the school for newly freed Black men and women. For over 150 years, Fisk has produced thousands of African American leaders, including W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells, John Hope Franklin and George Edmund Haynes. In the 1950s and 1960s, many of those involved in the Civil Rights movement were Fisk students like John Lewis and Diane Nash. And more recently, Fisk alumnus Justin Jones led an effort to remove the bust of KKK founder, Nathan Bedford Forrest, from the Tennessee State Capitol.

Meharry Medical College also has a rich history, dating back to 1876 when Central Tennessee College created the Meharry Medical Department. Dr. William Snead and Dr. George Hubbard served as the first two faculty members. As one of only fourteen Black medical schools in the nation, Meharry became an independent medical school in 1915. Then, in 1931, Meharry moved here, just across the street from Riddim n Spice. Civil Rights lawyer Z. Alexander Looby lived with his family just a few doors down from Riddim n Spice. He also served as a lecturer at Fisk and Meharry. In April 1960 at the height of the sit-ins movement, his house was bombed. The blast zone was so large it shattered windows at Meharry. The attack led to the Silent March, which ended with Mayor Ben West siding with Black student activists that segregation at lunch counters was wrong. Meharry Medical College remains the largest private HBCU in the U.S. solely dedicated to health care, science, and medicine.

Our next stop is just up the road: Kingdom Café and Grill, 2610 Jefferson Street. Turn around and turn LEFT onto Twenty-First Ave. South. Turn LEFT onto Jefferson Street and pass under I-40 through the Gateway to Heritage Pocket Park. Learn more about the musical history of Jefferson Street on our Jefferson Street Driving Tour. Kingdom Café will be just ahead on your right.