[2] For three years, he worked at Wendy’s fast-food hamburger chain as a manager learning professional restaurant operations, which he felt was necessary to know before starting his own business.
[2] At age 26, in 1981, he opened J.P. Licks a few blocks from his home in Jamaica Plain (hence, the name) with business partner Michael Herbert.
Not only does it give its food for various events and donates gift cards to non-profits for auctions and raffles, but it also sets up in-store charitable incentives.
[5] In 2019, J.P. Licks started holding an annual Sock Drive every February to benefit the guests of Rosie's Place.
[9] Some of their most notable artists include Sharif Muhammad,[10] Ekua Holmes, who recently displayed[clarification needed] her work at the MFA in Boston,[11] and Robin Abrahams, otherwise known as "Miss Conduct,"[citation needed] an advice columnist for The Boston Globe, who turned towards art during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
[13] In 2021, the only free Chess Club in Boston started using the Jamaica Plain J.P. Licks location as their Thursday evening home[citation needed].
It's a place where anyone of any skill level can play a match - outside in the summer, and inside in colder months - over a cup of ice cream or coffee.
A local woman named Clementine frequented the first JP location, quickly befriended Vince and "adopted" him as her grandson.