"Those who visit Jake and Earl's might ask where the name comes from. Mr. Schlesinger wanted to call it Jake's Dixie Barbecue because 'Jake is what older people in the South call young boys and it's my dog's name.' Ms. Wheaton wanted to name it for her father, Earl, a surgeon in New Jersey. They compromised."
"The East Coast Grill opened its doors on August, 18, 1985. At that point it seemed a pretty risky venture. Although my partner, Cary Wheaton, and I had plenty of restaurant experience, we had no business experience. Restaurants have high failure rates and a lot of folks didn’t think Inman Square was that good of a location. And you know what? If I had known then, what I know now, I definitely would have talked us out of doing such a crazy thing – but we were young, fearless, and had a dream of opening a restaurant."
East Coast Grill & Raw Bar 