Jack-n-Grill makes a move up the hill to Littleton

Lori Midson

The future home of Jack-n-Grill dos

​Just got word from Jack Martinez, the patriarch behind Jack-n-Grill, the New Mexican joint at 2524 Federal Boulevard, that he's opening a second outpost of his chile shrine at 2630 West Belleview Avenue. That's the vacated space bordering the banks of the Platte River that the Santa Fe Tequila Company had sopped up before it dried up pretty much moments after it opened, and just weeks after it closed its first location at 901 Tenth Avenue, which will soon become Interstate Kitchen & Bar.

But Martinez isn't worried about the issues that plagued the Santa Fe Tequila Company, even though it wasn't that long ago that Martinez had some problems of his own, namely a Jack-n-Grill franchise deal with Anthony Javazon that ended with Martinez bidding adios -- and not in friendly kind of way.

But Martinez learned his lesson."Oh, no, honey, I'll never do that again," he insisted. "The new Jack-n-Grill has no partners, no franchisee, no nothing. It's all mine, just Jack's." And while he admits that other potential deals have made him hesitant, he was instantly sure about this one. "The moment I walked into the building, I knew this was it," he assured me. 

The menu will be the same as the original, but Martinez is adding a New Mexican-heavy wine list and a cabaret license to bring in bands from New Mexico. He's shooting for a late September opening, and once he's up and running, he'll turn to getting his third location at 1320 Elati Street, in the Golden Triangle, off the ground. "My goal is to give each one of my kids a restaurant. Three down, one to go," he told me.