A blue shack by the Port of Nome is serving up breakfast burritos made fresh by longtime local John Godsey, better known as “Caribou Jack.”
At nearly 70, Caribou Jack has swapped his folk guitar for a food trailer, waking up at 3 a.m. to handcraft burritos packed with eggs, hash browns, and local favorites like reindeer sausage. On his first day, he sold all 20 burritos he had prepared.
Second day, I put 40,” Godsey said. “Yesterday, I ran out. Today, I put 80 and I still got probably 20 left. I’m gonna sell them through lunch.” An hour later, they were all gone.
His food stand, Caribou Jack’s Sluicebox, debuted mid May, opens around 7 a.m., five days a week. Built from salvaged materials and run with heart, Jack says it’s not about profit, but about feeding the community with love (and foil-wrapped convenience).
He’s even designing the menu with hardworking folks in mind. Everything is grab-and-go, warm, and satisfying. And as a true local, Jack makes sure his hours don’t compete with other restaurants in town. “We’re all still friends,” he says.
