jamaican food Tag

Yardie Grabz is Strathcona’s newest ghost kitchen making up delicious homestyle Jamaican food.

Their name combines “Yardie”, meaning Jamaican diaspora, and “Grabz” for their grab-and-go style foods. Yardie Grabz is located in a commissary kitchen in the heart of Strathcona offering authentic and homecooked dishes – like patties, oxtail, and jerk chicken – for curbside pickup, delivery, and catering.

We spoke to Dimitri, the founder and head-chef of Yardie Grabz, about his unique offerings for the city and the impact he makes as a Black business owner in Strathcona.

Read our interview below and place your Yardi Grabz orders at yardiegrabz.ca

We make classic Jamaican grab & go street food with a homestyle approach. From Jamaican Patties, Jerk Chicken to Oxtail, everything is handcrafted and made from scratch. We ensure we use only fresh quality local ingredients, halal and/or organic meats for every product, as we treat our customers and clients as if ourselves or our families are eating our food.

Ever since I was a kid I’ve been a foodie and loved pastries, baked goods and anything sweet and savoury. My passion for cooking started when I was younger and I worked part-time jobs in the food industry when I was in high school and university. Throughout that time I worked my way up in positions and met a lot of cooks and chefs on the way that have influenced my style in cooking.

Yardie Grabz came to be from a craving for Jamaican Patties that I had during the COVID-19 lockdown. I wanted a patty so badly, but could not find any in Vancouver that truly represented the taste that I knew growing up. I came up with a recipe and tried cooking it for myself. I made them and posted them on social media, and from that moment family, friends and strangers started to message me if I could make patties for them. From then it’s only gone forward.

We’re based at 266 Raymur Avenue. It’s a cool neighbourhood because it is very industrial. The building we work directly in has multiple businesses around us, of different kinds. So it’s great to be working around creative and hard-working individuals in the community. It definitely adds to the fuel of the hustle.

I believe we impact the community in a positive and tasty way! We’re a go-to spot for locals in the East Van area and as well as Caribbean/African residents of Vancouver. As they too, had challenges to find authentic food that represents their culture and what they regularly eat.

We’re one of the very few Black-owned businesses in Strathcona, and one of the only few Jamaican food production companies in Vancouver – and the Lower Mainland at that. So It’s a blessing to merge my two cultural identities of Canada and Jamaica through food service while putting smiles on people’s faces.

How can we get our hands on some of your food?

You can find our products on our website www.yardiegrabz.ca

We provide wholesale service, catering and takeout and delivery on Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays.

Our Jamaican Patties can also be found at our great vendors at New Amsterdam Cafe, Tony’s Coffee and Rise Up Marketplace (another great business in Strathcona.) We plan to provide our Jamaican Patties throughout more stores in Strathcona and throughout Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, so be on the lookout for that. Any newly info can always be found our Instagram/Website @yardiegrabz or yardiegrabz.ca 

Visit our blog for more on our Maker of the Month series.