A venerable Jamaican restaurant opens a second location on the west side of the city. This summer, Ja ‘Grill – the 14-year-old Hyde Park restaurant – will be opening a new outpost in an upcoming development in North Lawndale called the Ogden Commons. The 10 acre project, which includes restaurants, retail and residential buildings, is located east of Douglass Park.
Since Ja ‘Grill’s original Lincoln Park debut, restaurant owner Tony Coates has built a passionate following of Jamaican cuisine, including plates of jerk chicken, whole red snapper, and a deceptively juicy Ja’ rum punch. The second location will stay true to the qualities that made it a success, but it won’t be a copy of the Hyde Park spot, Coates says. Yes’ Grill left Lincoln Park for Hyde Park in 2014.
“We create an authentic Jamaican experience with cuisine, spirits and ambience,” he says. “It will be the same – but with some additional surprises.”
Coates was shy of what those surprises might be, but said the new location at 1407 S. Washtenaw Avenue in North Lawndale will have more character and design elements than the “cookie cutter” room he’s in Hyde Park within Harper Court occupies center owned by the University of Chicago. The new location has large windows that open to encourage airflow and can seat about 100 people with seating on the outside deck.
The new restaurant will open in the first phase of the $ 200 million Ogden Commons project: a three-story building with 50,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. Other tenants include Steak n ‘Shake and Wintrust Bank, with additional space leased to the Sinai Health System (the building is just steps from Mount Sinai Hospital) and the Cinespace Chicago Film Studio. In addition to Chicago Housing, both are partners with the Habit Company’s development agency and local real estate company.
Later phases are expected to include 120,000 square feet of commercial space and over 350 mixed income residential units on 10 acres of land near the 2600 block of West Ogden Avenue. The property was previously home to the now-destroyed public housing developments of Ogden Courts and Lawndale. The partners want to complete the development in 2026.
Ja ‘Grill provides the area with rare seating and could be a boon to those attending Riot Fest, the music festival that returns in September. There are unintended synergies with some ska bands like Hepcat in the lineup of the festival.
Yes’ Grill on Ogden Commons, 1407 S. Washtenaw Avenue, is slated to open this summer.
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