Here's Why Bernie's Jerk Kitchen Became THA Kitchen

JOLIET, IL — After a four-month closure, Joshua Betts is back in his kitchen — THA Kitchen —cooking up tasty soul food and other meals that you won't find at most Joliet area restaurants.

On June 1, Betts shut down his Bernie's Jerk Kitchen & Waffles at the 2777 Black Road in the Infantry Drive plaza on Joliet's west side. Betts went to Los Angeles to open a Bernie's Jerk Kitchen restaurant for California residents.

The Joliet resident said he plans to fly out to Los Angeles to oversee the restaurant every couple of weeks. Meanwhile, Betts changed his Joliet restaurant's name to THA Kitchen, he redid the entire menu and hired an entirely new crew of employees to help him run THA Kitchen.

Betts said he wanted his Joliet restaurant to be known for more than just jerk chicken.

He also ditched the breakfast menu and got rid of the waffles. THA Kitchen officially reopened for business Sept. 23.

On Tuesday, Joliet Patch interviewed Betts while he was busy in the kitchen, cooking up smothered pork chops as one of his Tuesday daily specials.

He believes the new menu and new name will be a hit with Joliet area residents. The key for now is spreading the word that THA Kitchen is open, and it's worth giving a try, he said.

"It's all about pleasing the customer," Betts told Patch. "We want constructive criticism. We want to know what we can do better. We want to satisfy the customer."

And that's what led to the evolution of Bernie's Jerk Kitchen & Waffles to THA Kitchen.

"The customers wanted regular food, so I changed it to THA Kitchen," Betts said. "We have the jerk and we have regular. We have Alfredo every day as well.

"The jerk is still going to be a big part of it. We got rid of the breakfast, and we made some changes."

As THA Kitchen, Betts still features jerk chicken and jerk shrimp, as well as oxtails and rib tips, but he's also branched out.

He believes his rib eye steaks, lamp chops, baked chicken, fried lobster tails and fried smothered pork chops will go over well with his new customer base.

Betts is also offering several daily specials for his lunch and dinner crowd. Tuesday, for instance, featured $1 jerk chicken tacos; smothered pork chops, steaks, jerk catfish or fried catfish, jerk salmon, fried wings and jerk shrimp or fried shrimp.

Betts also offers family-style meals. THA Kitchen is open for indoor dining, carryout as well as Door Dash, Grub Hub and Uber deliveries. He also added a kid's menu.

THA Kitchen includes a number of sides such as okra, broccoli and cheese, corn, green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, baked potatoes and more.

THA Kitchen is now open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. During its first week of being open, THA Kitchen was only accepting cash and currency through the Cash App. Betts said the restaurant will be ready for credit cards "this weekend."

"It's a whole new staff, a whole new operation," Betts said. "We'll have gift cards and periodic raffles."

The phone for THA Kitchen is 815-409-7270.