Ja' Grill

Has anybody been to this new Jamaican pub in Lincoln Park with a full lunch/dinner menu? Im not going to get too excited for fear of a letdown but this has potential for the neighborhood. I get to Negril once a year so as soon as I can I am going to head over to Armitage and give this place a try and compare to some of my favorite spots on the island. They promise Jerk Chicken, Jerk Pork, Patties, Ox-tail, escovitch snapper and lots of specialty rum's

Ja' Grill
1008 W. Armitage Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
773-929-5375

http://www.jagrill.com

I was there last night, and it's about what you'd expect for the neighborhood. They had Red Stripe but not Dragon Stout, so I ended up getting Guinness. For some reason there were no beverages listed on the menu so I don't know if they have ginger beer.

The lovely spouse got the Jerk chicken salad and remarked that it was bland, this from someone who finds the kind of Jerk I like too spicy. I got the curry shrimp which was pretty good flavor-wise but seemed a little over priced at $17 for 8 or 9 shrimp (it did come with cabbage and carrots, also rice and beans, and a couple slices of plantain).

The music alternated between Bob Marley and generic new reggae. There were a couple of turntables but no one working them, if there had been I would have requested some King Tubby, Upsetter, or Keith Hudson.

The one area where they really excelled was the attractiveness of their staff both female and male. Whoever hired them obviously was looking for model types. To me this just shows that their priorities are wrong, food should come first.

Gus Da Torry wrote:The one area where they really excelled was the attractiveness of their staff both female and male. Whoever hired them obviously was looking for model types. To me this just shows that their priorities are wrong, food should come first.

Welcome. This is an interesting hypothesis. "The quality of the food is inversely proportional to the attractiveness of the staff". It warrants further study.