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On the Street
Ja Grill 10-Year Anniversary Party
Hyde park
chicago, il
Photography by
nikki allen creative
Ja Grill celebrated with a 10-year anniversary party in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. The Jamaican restaurant and bar is recognized as the city’s best first full-service Jamaican establishment. Founded in 2007, it originally opened in Lincoln Park before relocating to Hyde Park's Harper Court in 2014. With strong ties to the Hyde Park community and the University of Chicago, Ja Grill has maintained its authenticity by employing Jamaican chefs and crafting their own marinades and jerk sauce from natural ingredients.
Signature dishes include jerk chicken, curry chicken, curry goat, oxtail, vegan Ital Stew, and whole red snapper escoveitch. They've served hundreds of thousands of pounds of jerk chicken and an equal number of their signature rum punches over the years.
Ja Grill was founded by Anthony "Tony" Coates, who returned to Chicago in the early 1990s after earning an MBA from Duke University. Coates, who was born in Philadelphia and raised in the
Seattle and DC areas, developed a passion for Jamaican cuisine
while exploring the Adams Morgan district in Washington, D.C. His professional background includes 14 years at J.P. Morgan Chase, and he is currently a partner at Loop Capital. The restaurant’s current general manager, Alex Fowler, also has Jamaican roots, further anchoring the restaurant's connection to Jamaican culture.