Janelle's

This brightly painted Prospect Heights eatery offers West Indian standbys like braised and curry goat, but chef-owner Russel Baptiste also delivers some harder-to-find specialties from his native Trinidad and Tobago. Any order should start with his excellent jerk chicken wings, which make up for their paltry proportions with a killer balance of sweetness and spice. Larger dishes reflect Trinidad and Tobago’s patchwork food traditions. There’s Trinidad-style chicken lo mein, as junky and addictive as it sounds, and roti by way of East India—ours was dry and mealy, but we pillaged the accompanying platter of mashed-up pumpkin, apple achar (similar to a fruit chutney), and curried chickpeas and potatoes. The place is low on atmosphere, but the upbeat waitresses keep diners in good spirits, and you can BYO rum to top up a glass of tangy house-made sorrel juice.