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Just months after opening his first restaurant in Jamaica Plain, Chef Ernie Campbell has expanded his famous Jamaica Mi Hungry restaurant to Allston.
The Jamaica Mi Hungry pop-up is now open on the Harvard University-owned property located at 182 Western Ave. in Allston through the end of 2020 as a program of the Zone 3 initiative. Zone 3 is a Harvard-sparked initiative to further activate and energize Western Ave with creative programs, events, public art, and retail experiments.
The menu features Campbell’s signature dishes, including jerk chicken, oxtail, coconut rice and beans, sweet plantains, and several vegetarian and vegan options. The menu will also feature new grab-and-go meals like jerk chicken caesar salad and jerk chicken wraps.
“We are delighted that everyone has come out, accepted us and supported us,” said Campbell. “We’ve had a tremendous first few days and it’s so exciting to see and hear how much everyone loves Jamaica Mi Hungry. We are really excited to be here in Allston.”
The Pop-Up serves lunch Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for pick-up only from its food truck, but plans to add dinner service, as well as transition inside to the restaurant space, for take-out only, by the fall.
“Harvard is thrilled to welcome Chef Campbell and Jamaica Mi Hungry to Zone 3, and to Allston,” said Marika Reuling, managing director for Allston Initiatives. “At Zone 3 we are committed to activating and energizing Western Avenue with creative, local retail. This location along Western Avenue has served as a local food incubator, helping to pilot and grow successful food businesses, including the Cafe Beatrice Pop-Up and Rabottini’s Pizza Pop-Up before that, both of which helped activate this same retail space in Barry’s Corner in 2019 and 2018.”
After years of working in the kitchens of some of Jamaica’s best resorts, CCampbell came to Boston in 2001. He eventually he launched his own catering company, added food trucks, a seasonal restaurant in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire in 2016, a pop-up at CommonWealth Kitchen’s kiosk in Kendall Square in 2018, and a restaurant in Jamaica Pain in 2019.
In addition to recently reopening his Jamaica Plain restaurant and planning for his latest expansion in Allston, Campbell has spent the past three months managing kitchen operations for CommonWealth Kitchen’s CommonTable initiative. CommonTable leverages CommonWealth Kitchen’s network of member food businesses, neighborhood restaurants, farm partners, and community-based organizations to produce culturally diverse, prepared meals to feed families in need during this time of community crisis. Campbell has led a culinary team to prepare over 25,000 meals since mid-April, adding to the 30,000 prepared by local restaurant partners.
