Jerrod Melman
Executive Partner
Jerrod Melman is an Executive Partner at Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants. He has opened restaurants, bars and nightclubs in Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. In 2008, Jerrod, along with his partners, opened HUB 51 and lower-level club SUB 51 in downtown Chicago.
Since then, he has opened more than a dozen Lettuce restaurants including RPM Italian, RPM Steak, RPM Seafood, Bub City, Three Dots and A Dash and more. Since graduating from DePaul University with a bachelor’s degree in communications, Jerrod has worked with other renowned hospitality groups, including BR Guest Hospitality and Union Square Hospitality Group in New York as well as In-N-Out Burger in Arizona.
In addition to building the RPM and "San" brands of restaurants, Jerrod and his partners have introduced several exciting projects, including Bub City and Joe’s Live – a restaurant and music venue in Rosemont, IL and an Italian-American comfort food restaurant, il Porcellino.
In 2014, the first Ramen-san location, a neighborhood ramen joint, opened in River North. Today, there are four locations throughout Chicago including Fulton Market, Streeterville and Lincoln Park.
In 2017, the team behind Ramen-san introduced Sushi-san, a casual sushi spot in River North followed by a grab-and-go Sushi-san at Chicago's iconic Willis Tower in 2021. In 2022, Jerrod and his team introduced The Omakase Room at Sushi-san, a unique omakase restaurant in River North. A second full-service Sushi-san location will be opening in Lincoln Park coming soon.
Jerrod and his partners introduced Pizzeria Portofino and RPM Events in 2019, and in January 2020, RPM Seafood opened, all three are part of the multi-concept project on the Chicago Riverfront. Most recently, the RPM brand expanded to Las Vegas with the opening of RPM Italian at The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in 2022 with RPM Italian also coming to West Palm Beach, FL in 2024.
