Jerk-Yard
From the Hyde Park Herald:
Jerk-Yard Chicago, an upscale Jamaican eatery with a “downtown vibe,” is coming to 53rd Street this May.
Setting up shop at 1310 E. 53rd St., the former site of What’s Krackin’, Jerk-Yard is the product of David Clausell, a nightclub promoter turned restaurateur who wants to combine his passion for food with his taste for elegant nightlife.
“You do not see too many upscale, nice jerk restaurants,” Clausell said. “Jerk-Yard is very elegant.”
Aside from aesthetics, Clausell said the menu’s offerings, including his sister’s rasta pasta, will help Jerk-Yard stand out from the crowd. The rasta pasta includes panini noodles in a rich, creamy sauce and peppers with a choice of chicken, salmon or pot roast as a meat.
“It’s a crazy dish,” he said. “It’s probably going to be one of the highlights people talk about when they come here.”
Other menu offerings include lamb chops, oxtail, jerk chicken, jerk turkey leg, macaroni and cheese, candied yams and cabbage. Entrées will range in price from $12 to $20 for lunch and $16 to $32 for dinner.
Clausell says the restaurant’s use of a charcoal grill will also distinguish the taste of its dishes from other Jamaican restaurants, which often use ovens.
From party promoter to restaurateur
A Chatham native, Clausell was raised at 103rd Street and King Drive. Describing himself as a popular and active student at Thornton Fractional North High School, Clausell said he was naturally drawn to hosting parties.
He rented out VFW halls for monthly events, drawing a couple hundred students, and booked celebrities to make appearances or perform, including singer-songwriter Jeremih.
Clausell went into the trades after high school, focusing on electrical and automotive studies. Throughout his odd jobs, he continued to throw parties on the side. But at 20 years old, while working as a manager at Jiffy Lube, Clausell decided he needed a change.
One day at work, he recalled, a young Clausell thought to himself, “man, this is not for me.” He was tired of punching a clock every day and wanted to do more.
So in 2009, Clausell quit his job at Jiffy Lube to become a full-time promoter. Starting as a sub-promoter, he threw his first event at Adrianna’s in south suburban Markham. Though the event drew hundreds, Clausell determined that the crowd didn’t have “the type of look” he wanted for his brand and, seeking “a more elegant brand,” he moved his promoting operation to the South Loop.
After a couple months, Clausell “graduated” from being a sub-promoter to a full-promoter, a designation that he said made him “the face of the night” — and more money. He met his mentor, Kenny Johnson, and became resident promoter at the Shrine Nightclub, formerly at 2109 S. Wabash Ave. After seven years at the Shrine, where he regularly drew crowds of more than 500 people, Clausell was again dissatisfied.
“I was working out my value. I’m bringing this place $40,000 to $50,000 and I am walking away with $2,000 to $3,000,” Clausell said. “I want to make the $40,000.”
He said Johnson told him to expand the types of parties he threw beyond nightclubs, so he started incorporating food.
“When I started doing bar and grill events, I started seeing the joy,” Clausell said. “People were eating and enjoying the food, taking pictures, Instagramming the food and posting it.”
“I’m seeing people enjoy the food more,” he continued, “instead of just partying and getting drunk all the time.”
The success of these food-centered events inspired Clausell to leave the nightclub business and get into the restaurant industry. In late 2020, he and his business partners prepared to launch a burger bar in Bronzeville, but the inability to agree on a business plan and “too many egos” wasn’t a recipe for success; plans fizzled out after only a few months.
Clausell went back into the nightlife business, but after the pandemic and summer of protests in 2020 following the police murder of George Floyd, he said the scene was not the same.
“Everything changed,” he said. “Number one, people are not coming out as much anymore, it’s a different crowd. You’ve got the kids jumping on CTA buses, you’ve got the bridges let up, it was just a whole different thing.
Above all, he continued, “people weren’t having as much fun in the club anymore.”
Though he was unsatisfied, Clausell stayed in the business until tragedy struck in July 2022, when his best friend was murdered over a parking spot. Grieving, Clausell moved to Scottsdale, Arizona to “clear his head” and get out of the city, but it gave him little peace.
“I gravitated back to Chicago,” he said.
In late 2022, Chef Michael Serratore, who Clausell met through promoting, reached out to him with the opportunity to promote events at his South Loop restaurant Pacino’s. Clausell moved back to Chicago at the end of that year.
“I did a few different events, like fight parties, (but) not too many parties,” Clausell said. “Pretty much, I was in-house at Pacino’s at this point, learning the restaurant.”
Last year, he decided he was ready to open a restaurant again, and so Jerk-Yard was born.
He said he chose the Hyde Park location because of the area’s rich restaurant and small business culture and its diversity of diners.
“Hyde Park, as far as culture, is one of the best places to start a restaurant,” Clausell said. “I think people enjoy food, sitting down and Instagramming their food. I think that’s one of the best places to start a business.”
Not one to think small, Clausell is already envisioning opening Jerk-Yard locations in the West Loop, South Loop, south suburbs and Scottsdale.
Jerk-Yard will have a soft opening in two weeks, with a grand opening coming later. Dates will be announced on the restaurant’s Instagram, @jerkyardchicago.
