As the World Cup approaches, Zeke’s Kitchen & Bar is raising the profile of Haitian cuisine

Ezechiel Jean-Louis still remembers his childhood afternoons in New York. When Zeke, as he’s known, would get home from school in Queens, his mother would be ready with a snack of boulèts—Haitian meatballs flavored with epis, the blend of peppers, garlic, and herbs that’s a foundation of many of the country’s dishes. 

Now, as an adult, Zeke is still following that same recipe. But at his Smyrna restaurant, Zeke’s Kitchen & Bar, he’s added a twist: He makes the meatballs into burger patties, served on a potato bun with a sweet and tangy sauce. “I took Haitian cuisine and modernized it,” Zeke told 285 South while sitting at his restaurant. “I try to make the menu authentically unauthentic.” His aim, he says, is to raise the profile of Haitian cuisine: “The goal is to take the culture and the food and take us higher and make us more visible on a different level.” 

He still relies on Haitian flavors, recipes, and skills. To clean the meat, for instance, the restaurant uses a Haitian technique that involves boiling water with lemon or limes, pouring it over the meat, and letting it rest for 30 minutes. All the meat in Zeke’s kitchen is then marinated in epis spice blend; Zeke’s recipe includes parsley, thyme, and cilantro in addition to other ingredients. 

The menu features childhood favorites with slight changes. For instance, the djon djon rice, a black rice made with water that’s been used to boil Haitian djon djon mushrooms: It’s usually served on a flat plate with a protein, plantains, and other toppings, but Zeke serves his in a bowl—to appeal to the current American fad for grain bowls. “That’s the part where it’s not as traditional, but it’s traditional from the root because it’s coming from me and it’s my thoughts and my ideas,” Zeke said. 

Zeke’s Haitian sandwich, meanwhile, won a prize for “best entree” at the 2023 Taste of Smyrna competition. In Zeke’s version, Cuban bread is filled with marinated brisket and pulled pork; then the sandwich is topped with pikliz (cabbage, carrots, and scotch bonnet pepper sauce; Zeke leaves out the traditional onion), pepper jack cheese, and black pepper aioli, and served with yuca frites. As for the drinks, they are all rum-based, with rums from Haiti, Cuba and Venezuela. 

The son of Haitian parents from Port-au-Prince and Aux Cayes, Zeke always had an interest in the kitchen. From a young age, he worked in the restaurant industry for companies like Red Lobster and Applebee’s. “That’s where I learned the corporate side and became just more educated on the business of it,” he told 285 South. “From there, I wanted to take everything that I learned, and I wanted to apply it to the mom-and-pop facilities because they don’t know this system, and no one’s ever going to teach them.” 

Zeke moved to the Atlanta area in 2007 after finishing high school in New York. He worked for a series of family-owned businesses including Taqueria Tsunami, then helped open five locations of the Burger Joint. In 2008, he launched his own catering company, which became successful enough that it served clients including Gerard Butler, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Viola Davis. “I would do regular dishes, and then maybe on a Friday, I would sneak in little Haitian dishes in there, make the djon djon rice, and then I would put it with fried chicken,” he said. He wasn’t actively looking to open his own place. But one afternoon in 2020, he was driving along South Cobb Drive in Smyrna when he saw a sign for an available restaurant space. That’s when he decided to open his first location. 

The Haitian American community in metro Atlanta has grown rapidly in the last decade, with almost 30,000 people with Haitian roots living in the area. Many have settled in Cobb County, where Zeke’s business operates—along with many other Haitian-owned businesses in fields like advertising, healthcare, and finance. After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, many Haitians arriving in the U.S. applied for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a humanitarian program that allows them to work legally in the country. The community has found support in previous generations already settled and in churches like the Good Samaritan Haitian Alliance Church in Lawrenceville, which has helped some navigate recent challenges: During the second Trump administration, many have had their TPS canceled and restored multiple times. The uncertainty has had a direct impact on Zeke’s business -two employees decided to return to Haiti before their TPS expired on February 3 of this year –only for TPS to be reinstated later. “I feel disappointed, sad and frustrated, and it affects the business and the community,” he said. “Now we had to hire two new people and train them about the culture and the food … and you feel it.” 

Zeke’s Kitchen & Bar opened in Smyrna in 2021, and was an immediate hit among Haitians and non-Haitians alike. “Four months and it took off,” Zeke said. “We were on Fox 5, and before I knew it, this place was full, and it never stopped.” This momentum allowed him to open a second location on Atlanta’s Westside in October 2025. But, he said, he’s not ready to take a break just yet: “There are multiple reasons why I don’t feel accomplished yet. If this is wow, imagine what I could do with more financing behind me.” 

In the short term, as Atlanta awaits the thousands of tourists expected to descend on the metro this summer for the World Cup, Zeke is preparing a special menu with more traditional Haitian dishes. He’s also planning on hosting a watch party when Haiti’s team plays Morocco at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on June 24. That’ll probably be welcome news to local Haitian soccer fans—tickets to the game start at almost $500 at resale on Ticketmaster. 

“[I want to] pack this place out with everybody. Not just Haitians—everybody out,” he said. “And I want everybody to have a place to go to where they can watch the game and feel safe and see people like them and eat food that they’re familiar with.”