In honor of Black History Month, The Michigan Daily’s Business beat spent the month speaking with Black business owners in the Ann Arbor community about their experiences and stories. Read the other articles here.
Robert Campbell, the owner of Ann Arbor’s Jamaican Jerk Pit, will be celebrating a milestone this March as his restaurant turns 15 years old. With brightly colored walls covered in polaroids of customers and a continuous Calypso soundtrack playing in the background, the Jerk Pit offers an authentic Caribbean menu, including Campbell’s favorite dish: curry goat.
Campbell’s entrepreneurial journey traces back to his childhood in the parish of Westmoreland, Jamaica, where he developed a love for cooking. Campbell, the oldest of four children, said he grew up cooking for his family.
“I didn’t grow up as a privileged kid,” Campbell said. “Both of my parents were always working. Everything my family worked for was to ensure we ate — chicken, seafood and lots of breadfruit. Nothing extravagant … Growing up we couldn’t afford oxtail, but it’s been on the menu ever since I started the Jerk Pit.”
In 1993, at the age of 21, Campbell made the decision to relocate to the United States. The move was made possible through sponsorship by a Michigan-based family who often stayed at the resort in Jamaica where he worked. He earned a bachelor’s degree in hospitality at Macomb Community College and a master’s degree in hotel and restaurant management at Eastern Michigan University.
“They saw something in me as a youth,” Campbell said. “I’m very consistent when it comes to greeting people, looking them in the eyes and smiling. It’s a mannerism of being able to have a connection with people and listening and understanding their needs which is what the service business is. They saw that in me, and of course they (knew) that I have some cooking skills so (they) put everything together. That’s how they saw what was in me before I saw what was in me. They’re like my second parents.”
Campbell said it was difficult to transition to life in the United States, having to move away from his family and adjust to a new culture while also pursuing a degree. Despite these differences, Campbell remained determined to pass his classes and pursue his passion for cooking. While completing his master’s degree, Campbell waited tables and opened two restaurants — the now-closed Irie Caribbean Cuisine in Canton and Jamaican Jerk Pit.
As the 15-year milestone approaches, Campbell said he hopes to expand his restaurant into a bigger space and perhaps even beyond Ann Arbor.
“A lot of customers travel from Lansing, Jackson, Plymouth, even though it’s far to come here,” Campbell. “They always say to me, you need to put one in their area for more exposure for other people to see. The plan is to get a bigger place with more upscale service with a liquor license. That’s my dream.”
During the early days of the Jamaican Jerk Pit, when business was slow and finances were tight, Campbell also worked with a catering company at four Olympic Games. Campbell drew parallels between his experience working at the Olympics and his limited space at the Jerk Pit.
“If there’s one thing I learned at the Olympics, no matter how small that space is, you can utilize it,” Campbell said. “The chefs were put in such small little areas and they created the best food ever. I really admired that. Of course, being in a different country, learning different languages, food and people was just remarkable.”
Now, at the Jerk Pit, Campbell manages to cook food from nearly all thirteen Caribbean countries in a space that fits a stove, fryer, prep station, service station and dining area.
Campbell said running a business opened his eyes to the challenges of being a Black business owner.
“(In college), I think I was the only Black person around and I never felt anything weird about it until after I graduated,” Campbell said. “When people (would) come into the business, they think that I am an employee and they don’t know that I am actually the business owner. They think it’s a white person owning the place.”
Undeterred by Ann Arbor’s vastly different climate, Campbell said he aspires to share the essence of his culture through cooking.
“My main goal is to make everybody happy,” Campbell said. “Just seeing people smile after eating a great meal, it means a lot to me. (I want to) provide the best food ever really, for people to actually enjoy my culture. Yeah, we don’t have the beach here, we don’t have the palm trees, but a great meal sometimes does quite a bit.”
Daily Staff Reporter Emma Spring can be reached at sprinemm@umich.edu.
