Jojo-Pearl

Jojo – Pearl

Like many of today’s great projects, the collaboration between THESIS and Jojo was born on the internet. Specifically, over social media, with a healthy shared appreciation for sarcasm and memes. Jojo’s larger than life sandwiches and larger than life personality needed an appropriately sized home, and their successful food cart was just not cutting it. Jojo’s ascent during a time when restaurants were being hit so hard made them somewhat of a phoenix – rising from the ashes of Portland’s decimated food scene, and because few restaurants were searching for brick and mortar space during that time, the Jojo team was able to land on a gem of a space in the Pearl, at an apex of food and nightlife, surrounded by thousands of their eager fans. In other words, it was time to get BOLD with a flagship space. Enter THESIS and the gears began to turn. Bold did not have to mean flashy or gaudy, and it needed to be tempered with unexpected elegance. If visitors to Jojo are surprised to be eating the face-meltingly spicy, dripping-with-flavor chicken sandwiches that have put Jojo on the map, while seated on luxe upholstered benches ensconced in buttery walnut casework – well that’s the idea. Jojo is unexpected.

photos: chris dibble
construction: sitthisak phoonkwon