Metro Atlanta Jamaican restaurant destroyed by fire gets helping hand from popular chicken chain

Simone John says she always knew her friends and neighbors cared, but they never cared all at once.

“We never expected that our little shack could bring so much love from everyone,” Simone told Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen .

Simone and her husband Chef Jay John are the longtime owners of the Jamaican Dat Fire Jerk Chicken in Southwest Atlanta. The charred remains of their restaurant sit in a lot along Northside Drive since a fire last month .

But the line outside their food truck on Tuesday was down the street.

“I think it’s a beautiful thing.  It pushes the community forward. I think it’s beautiful,” loyal customer Shon Floyd said.

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The meals were on the house, courtesy of the South African restaurant brand called Nando’s PERi-PERi Chicken, which is opening two metro area locations later this year.

“They are sponsoring 404 meals today. Oh my God! That’s amazing,” Chef Jay said.

404 like the area code of Atlanta. It’s a gesture of goodwill, from one restaurant to another.

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“You look around.  Everyone is so excited about coming here and trying out their food today,” Krista McLay with Nando’s said.

Chef Jay says many of the customers were first-timers. He hopes they’ll become regulars, and he’s very grateful to Nando’s.

“It proves that if you do the right things for the community, people ‘are’ looking and people ‘are’ watching,” Chef Jay said. “It’s just a wonderful feeling.”

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