Jess is a fictional character on the FX Network television series The Bear. She has been played by Sarah Ramos since 2023. She has appeared in 10 episodes through 2025.
Jessica was introduced in the season two episode "Forks" when Richie was a front of house stage at Ever. Jess works as the expediter at the three-Michelin-star Chicago restaurant.
Later, when Ever closes its doors, Richie hires Jess, Rene (Rene Gube), and Garrett (Andrew Lopez) to work at the struggling Bear restaurant. As Ramos tells it, "Jess is there to pay forward the training, encouragement, and tough love she received while she was working her way up the restaurant ranks." Ramos told Vulture's Marah Eakin, "Richie assumes she's a savant like Carmy, but that's not true. She really worked hard and did the grind, so she brings a sense that change is possible. It's like, This place is a mess, but I have a vision and I'm confident we can whip it into shape and achieve what we want it to be." According to Ramos, "One of the best notes I got for her character was from Coco Storer, who's the show's culinary producer. While everyone else is freaking out, Jess is like, 'This is no big deal. I've seen way worse.'"
Jess wears a checkered-flag lapel pin and her dad was involved in professional auto racing, possibly as part of a pit crew. She has brothers and is probably a Chicago native.
Christopher Storer wrote the part with Ramos in mind. She told L'Officiel magazine in 2025, "I've known Chris Storer, the show's creator, for like 10 yearswe met at a meeting for a movie that didn't end up getting made. It was a good meeting; I think we talked about Taylor Swift. We didn't chat much after that, but then I wrote a short story that was published in an Australian zineyou had to pay, like, $25 just for shipping. Most of my friends didn't even read it, but I ran into Chris at an event and he was like, 'Hey, I loved your short story.' I was like, 'I'm sorry, what?' I clocked him as being a unique specimen in Hollywoodone who's not only reading short stories, but ordering them from Australia. He's always been supportive of me as a writer and director, too. I was stoked for him to have a smash hit when The Bear came out, and for him to invite me to join that...I was beyond touched. He could have had literally anybody in Hollywood play this part. And he asked me." Storer also cast Ramos as the female lead opposite The Bear costar Rene Gube in a 2024 long-form Coca-Cola Company commercial called "New Guy."