Jamiel Bowen’s “ultimate” goal is to own a chain of casual, authentic Connecticut restaurants — and he’s off to a promising, wisely-planned start.
Bowen, this November opened Jamaican Grill Mon Island restaurant in New Haven, where his mom, a longtime professional cook in Jamaica, is his partner/chef.
“She has a natural talent,” and learned from her grandma, Bowen said. “We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but mother always made really good food.”
Plus, Bowen has the complex financial skills to run a business network, as he made sure to get three college degrees before pursuing the dream.
He has a bachelor’s degree in accounting, a master’s degree in taxation and an MBA, all from University of New Haven.
“I wanted a proper education so I could manage the business,” he said.
He first opened as a food truck in Nov. 2023, serving Hartford and East Hartford. Then he opened a restaurant in Middletown in April 2024. He closed that because it was a long drive for mom and opened New Haven in November.
Mom Tina Clark is known for her oxtails, fried chicken, curry goat, jerk chicken and pork, Bowen said customers can also get “a very tasty burger seasoned with upscale seasoning.”
Bowen does a lot of prepping and cleaning.
He knew as a child growing up in Jamaica that he wanted to be in the food business.
Along with state all residents often looking for interesting and new food experiences, Connecticut has the highest percentage by population of Jamaican Americans, at around 1.6%, with a total of almost 60,000 residents identifying as Jamaican, according to the World Population Review. “Jamaican Americans are most heavily concentrated in the eastern United States, with the highest numbers found in New York, Florida, and Connecticut. In New York, Jamaican Americans number over 315,000, which is approximately 1.6% of the state’s population.”
“I wanted to have a food business that looks good, tastes good. My favorite thing is good food. It is one of the greatest experiences there is,” he said. “My ultimate dream is to have a chain of these. “The goal is to make this a success first. For now we have good food.”
After college he worked jobs in his field to get seed money to purchase a food truck, including as an auditor. Then he learned the restaurant field from A to Z by working every job in the now closed Woodbridge Social restaurant, even cleaning the bathrooms.
“It got run down I thought if I can clean the storefront and bring a positive vibe to it it could do a lot for the neighborhood,” Bowen said. “We want to have a positive impact on the community.”
They also carry Jamaican drinks such as Calypso lemonade.
His wife, Tash, a nurse also helps out. The couple has two daughters, 6 years old and 4 years old.
Bowen said the restaurant business is a lot of work, but he loves talking to the customers.
“I love chit-chatting with people,” Bowen said, “I knew it would be extremely hard. It beats looking at numbers all day.”
The best part for him is when customers “skeptical” about a dish and then “stop talking mid sentence” when they taste a dish.
Bowen said, “It takes time to build a base,” and right now it’s about “reaching people.”
“We want more people to know about it,” he said.