Island Vybz food truck serves classic Jamaican food

Sisters moved their food truck to Tacoma over the summer.

By Drew Dotson, For the Tacoma Daily Index • November 18, 2024 1:30 am

A new food truck is bringing a taste of the Caribbean to Tacoma.

Tamara Jackson, with sister Lishan Welch, moved their food truck, Island Vybes, to Tacoma over the summer.

“Island Vybz is basically a Jamaican-cuisine food truck. Caribbean,” Jackson said.

The sisters purchased the truck around three years ago and have been learning the ins and outs of running a food service business over the past few years.

“The truck was parked because we were trying to learn the business, basically,” Jackson said. “We did a few temp events while we were waiting on our permits. So with the temp events, we were trying to gain our experience as far as how to open up a food truck.”

Jackson said both her and her sisters are nurses who moved to Washington from Florida to help out during COVID. The community she found during that time inspired her to start a food truck.

“We are a family that love to cook and love to entertain and we always come together to cook and have a good time,” Jackson said. “During COVID, because of the separation with family, we actually had a group of people from our community and we all came together. Maybe every Friday, we would basically cook and enjoy each other’s company during COVID.”

Jackson said the food truck started out in Graham, where her and her sister live, but they always had their eye on Tacoma as a great location for their truck. With Burger Seoul moving to a brick and mortar location, the burger truck’s former location on the corner of S. 19th Street and S. Prospect Street became available.

“We always wanted to be in Tacoma because of the diversity there,” Jackson said. “There are also a lot of Caribbean people in Tacoma.”

Jackson said she has received a lot of support from the Caribbean community in Tacoma who have rallied around the new restaurant.

Jamaican food is characterized by its strong flavors made by a diverse blend of spices found in the Caribbean Sea region. However, Jackson said some of these spices can be difficult to source in the Pacific Northwest.

“We have to import some of our spices from Florida because you can’t find them in Washington,” Jackson said.

Island Vybz serves classic Jamaican dishes such as jerk chicken, curry goat and oxtails with popular Caribbean sides such as rice and peas, fried plantains and Jamaican beef patties.