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Lamb chops on a white, oval plate.
Jerk lamb is among the delights at Ja’ Grill.
Kim Kovacik/Eater Chicago

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A Jamaican Favorite Serves Jerk and More at a New West Side Locale

Tour Ja’ Grill’s new restaurant near Douglass Park

by Ashok Selvam and Naomi Waxman
Photography by Kim Kovacik

The area around Douglass Park and Mount Sinai Hospital doesn’t feature a lot of dining options. But a new development, Ogden Commons, has lured one of Chicago’s most popular Jamaican restaurants. Earlier this month, Ja’ Grill opened its second location, and from the looks of things, owner Tony Coates has some new tricks up his sleeve.

Coates debuted Ja’ Grill in 2007 in Lincoln Park and then moved the operation in 2014 to Hyde Park inside the University of Chicago’s Harper Court development. In North Lawndale, Coates is promising an amped-up version of the original with music, drinks, and authentic Jamaican food. They’ll also start serving lunch next week. The jerk items — lamb, shrimp, chicken, and pork ribs — are highlights; customers can also find richly spiced oxtail and curry goat.

Walk through the space and check out a few of the dishes below.

Ja’ Grill inside Ogden Commons, 1407 S. Washtenaw Avenue, open 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily, lunch service debuting later in April.

A restaurant entrance inside a large brick development. A green sign over the door reads “Ja’ Grill.”
A spacious indoor dining room with a large bar and floor-to-ceiling windows.
A spacious dining room with red walls and floor-to-ceiling windows.

Owner Tony Coates hopes fans of the original restaurant will follow him to the West Side.

A cook stands over a gas range with three sauté pans filled with food.
A person pulls a large tray filled with jerk chicken out of an oven.
A white plate filled with food.

Jerk chicken with rice and peas, cabbage and carrots, and plantains.

A cook uses tongs to move ingredients in a pan.
A pile of salad greens is topped with a row of curried shrimp.
Curry shrimp salad.
A plate of jerk pork ribs.
Jerk ribs.
A white plate with a whole fish in orange sauce and cooked peppers.
Whole red snapper.
A layered red and orange cocktail with a slice of lime garnish.
Rum drinks like the Dark & Stormy enhance the Caribbean vibe.
A tall glass filled with an orange and red mixed cocktail, with an orange and cherry garnish.
Rum punch.

Ja Grill Odgen Commons

1407 S Washtenaw Ave., Chicago, IL 60608 Visit Website
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