The Real Jerk turns to crowd-funding to bring its old mural to its new space
No Caribbean restaurant in Toronto has managed to attract quite as much press coverage as The Real Jerk, whose scrappy story of a mom-and-pop shop pushed out by a big, bad landlord galvanized a tremendous amount of goodwill from the community. Now that they’re set to open a new location down the street from their old one, owners Ed and Lily Pottinger are hoping to monetize that sentiment to transplant the restaurant’s familiar smiling-sun mural. Or rather, an 18-by-12-foot photo of the mural, which will be installed in the new dining room, as shown above. The procedure will cost $2,450, and like quite a few Toronto restaurants, they’ve turned to Indiegogo to try to raise the money from their fans. Perks for supporters range from a free appetizer (for a $15 contribution) up to a private, all-you-can-eat booking for 90 guests (for the full $2,450). The restaurant has already raised $451, and has 38 days left in its campaign. We’re betting they make it. See their pitch [Indiegogo] »
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/the-real-jerk-indiegogo/&title=The Real Jerk turns to crowd-funding to bring its old mural to its new space&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/real-jerk-mural-624x357.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_185077" align="aligncenter" width="656"] (Image: The Real Jerk)[/caption]
No Caribbean restaurant in Toronto has managed to attract quite as much press coverage as The Real Jerk, whose scrappy story of a mom-and-pop shop pushed out by a big, bad landlord galvanized a tremendous amount of goodwill from the community. Now that they’re set to open a new location down the street from their old one, owners Ed and Lily Pottinger are hoping to monetize that sentiment to transplant the restaurant’s familiar smiling-sun mural. Or rather, an 18-by-12-foot photo of the mural, which will be installed in the new dining room, as shown above. The procedure will cost $2,450, and like quite a few Toronto restaurants, they’ve turned to Indiegogo to try to raise the money from their fans. Perks for supporters range from a free appetizer (for a $15 contribution) up to a private, all-you-can-eat booking for 90 guests (for the full $2,450). The restaurant has already raised $451, and has 38 days left in its campaign. We’re betting they make it. See their pitch [Indiegogo] »){kind=link}
Ed! Throw an opening bash and sell tickets! $5 each! Film the thing and toss it up on the Youtubes! Get Messenjah to play (LOL).
I can’t get over the nerve of these people asking for donations to pay for the decoration of their new FOR PROFIT . Lets see how many people are stupid enough to give them money.
Donating $100 and getting a dinner for four is hardly being taken advantage of. Unless of course you eat at some fast food burger chain where a meal is normally $5.99.
I’d give the full $2450 if they’d open a second location in Little Jamaica
me too
Uh..like you may want to indicate the new adress?..”Up the street?”..WTF is that?
The decor in the new restaurant is bafflingly unpleasant. I loved the food at the Real Jerk, but the main reason I went was for the atmosphere. The coloured glass of the windows and the warm colours on the interior made me feel as though I was somewhere hot even in the winter. Why in God’s name did they decide to decorate it like a grey cafeteria? It just has no energy anymore… I can’t really imagine going back there.