Top skateboarder Tyshawn Jones opens Caribbean restaurant
BY ALEX MITCHELL
A recently opened takeout
restaurant doesn’t have a
conventional name, it doesn’t
have a conventional fl avor
and it doesn’t have a conventional
backstory.
Newly opened Caribbean-
American joint, Taste So Good
(Make You Wanna Smack
Your Mama) at 1752 Lafayette
Avenue is bringing a necessary
spice-up to the Soundview
food scene, according to
19-year-old owner Tyshawn
‘TJ’ Jones.
So, how does a 19-year-old
open up a restaurant in New
York City?
Being named Thrasher
Magazine’s 2018 Skater of the
Year certainly helped move
things along.
Skateboarder by day,
restaurateur by night, this
Soundview native took up
skating in 2010, fi rst learning
to keep his balance at Bruckner
Skate Park behind M.S.
101.
Long since those days of
skating in Throggs Neck and
later on 161st Street, TJ mastered
his craft, earning sponsorships
from Adidas, New
Era, Supreme in addition to
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, D 6 ECEMBER 14-20, 2018 BTR
Tyshawn Jones outside of his Soudnview restaurant.
Schneps Community News Group/ Alex Mitchell
Jerk chicken, rice, and mac n’
cheese.
Schneps Community News Group/ Alex
Mitchell
other major brands while
travelling the world in the
process. He’s currently in San
Francisco to formally accept
the skater of the year title.
Not a fan of traditional
competitive skateboarding,
TJ prefers performing and
fi lming his moves around the
Bronx and rest of the city.
As far as creating his artistic
maneuvers, TJ likes to
modify standard moves like
ollies, a simple jump trick,
by adding a new edginess to
them.
“I like doing them, but getting
really, really high in the
air,” TJ said.
In the past, he’s gotten
enough air to clear a #6 IRT
station platform.
It was only two months ago
that TJ opened Taste So Good,
to fi ll a need in the neighborhoods’s
gastric choices.
“We have nothing good to
eat in this area. We haven’t
since I was a kid and it drives
me crazy,” he said. “I had to
put some great food in Soundview,”
TJ said mentioning that
he also opened Taste So Good
as a career backup.
TJ freely admits that the
restaurant’s name, Taste
So Good (Make You Wanna
Smack Your Mama), is derived
from the cult-classic movie
‘Friday After Next,’ starring
Ice Cube and Chris Tucker.
“I’ve loved those movies
since I was kid,” TJ said.
His own mother Tamisha
works in the kitchen, whipping
up some of the best, savory
Caribbean treats that
the Bronx has to offer.
TJ’s favorite items on the
menu are the jerk shrimp
and the ribs, but the spicy
jerk chicken is also a big-time
seller.
Pair that chicken with Caribbean
rice and mac n’ cheese
to make a lunch that could
warm up an ice sculpture.
Being that TJ can’t stand
cold weather, some spicy Caribbean
fl avor is exactly what
he’s looking for this winter.
He also wouldn’t mind a
second location for Taste So
Good.
“Next I want to open a sitdown
version of this place,
this one is a little spot for the
neighborhood to do take-out
from, but I’m sure thinking
about expanding,” TJ said.
While this reporter
wouldn’t even entertain the
thought of slapping his mama,
the food did in fact taste so
good.