For a final taste of Jamerica’s jerk chicken, stop in soon to the Jamaican restaurant on Williamson Street. Owner Martin Deacon has announced that after 24 years, it’s time for him to retire.

“Business is not as good as it was before,” said Deacon, who does not have a set closing date for Jamerica but says it could be as soon as two weeks. “I’m tired, ready to retire physically and mentally.”

Jamerica opened as a grocery and deli in a house at 1236 Williamson St. in May of 1995, three years after Tim Erickson opened Jolly Bob’s down the street. Soon Deacon added a seating section to serve his jerk pork and chicken, curried goat, and mango rundown catfish. Diners came for the deep fried plantains and saucers of habanero salsa. Dishes cost about $7.

“I struggled,” Deacon said. “I don’t know how I did it. I’ve seen the blood, the sweat and the tears, the good, the bad and the ugly. But there was some good fun.”

The business grew, and by 2002 Deacon was serving breakfasts of Jamaican omelets, plantain porridge and jerk hashbrowns. Diners could sample ackee (a fruit, like lychee) and saltfish, a Jamaican national dish, and Jamaican bammies, thick flat breads made with cassava flour.