Supreme among Yucatán Grill’s entire Caribbean canon is its jerk chicken. The menu distinguishes its spicy dishes with an asterisk-like chili, but the jerk chicken runs the entire capsaicin scale, earning an almost unequalled score of four chilies. The huge heart-shaped breast’s heat doesn’t hit at first, but it wears you down halfway through, stinging your lips with a dry heat equivalent to a day spent baking under a desert sun. Still, the heat isn’t completely overpowering, nor does it disrupt the dish. Rather, the heat simply serves to amplify the experience, turning the chicken’s little flavor pockets into a full-blown force.

YUCATÁN GRILL 550 PACIFIC COAST HWY | STE 111 | SEAL BEACH 90740 | 562.430.4422 | YUCATANGRILL.COM | OPEN SUN-THURS 11AM-9PM | FRI-SAT 11AM-10PM FOOD FOR TWO $15-40 | FULL BAR

Tags: dinner, lunch, mexican, seal beach, yucatan grill