The Greg Hill Foundation’s Restaurant Strong Fund and the Grubhub Community Fund are pleased to announce $1.45 million in grant opportunities have been distributed to over 130 restaurants across four cities. Chicago small businesses have been rewarded a total of $500,000 across 45 local restaurants.
Small business restaurants play a vital role in the fabric of the local Chicago community, offering unique culinary experiences, fostering connections, and contributing to the economic vitality of Chicago. The Restaurant Strong Fund recognizes the challenges faced by these establishments and remains dedicated to supporting their journey towards renewal and success.
The 45 local Chicago restaurants selected to receive grants from the Restaurant Strong Fund will be provided with much-needed resources for their small business. These funds will assist in updating technology, updating equipment, marketing and PR services, staff training programs, staff incentivized wages, and maintenance/updating of current infrastructure. These restaurants all are small businesses, having one location with 50 or less employees.
The 45 small business Chicago restaurants receiving grants from the Restaurant Strong Fund are:
$25,000
- Boulevard Bistro
- Bubble & Brew
- Decadent Dessert Bar & Bistro
- Dear Margaret
- Dirty Tiffs Cafe
- Imani’s Original Bean Pies
- New Orleans Seafood Inc
- Smack Dab Chicago
- Tasty World Restaurant
- Toro Sushi
$10,000
- Baba Pita
- Bocadillo Market
- Drew’s on Halsted
- E Ramen
- Herb
- Irenes
- Kizin Creole restaurant
- Krung Thep Thai Cuisine
- Kubo
- MFK
- Standard Bar and Grill
- Tacotlan
- Twilight Kitchen
- Uncle Ben’s Grill
- Wild Blossom Meadery
$5,000
- 8A5E LLC
- Ambers Food Cafe
- Elevate Coffee
- Evelyn’s Food Love
- H&C POUR HOUSE
- Indgo MRKTO
- John’s Place
- La Flor de Acapulco
- La Michoacana Del Panda Inc
- Luke’s Italian Beef
- Mable’s Table
- Mei’s
- Mom’s Place – A Chicago Gathering Spot
- Pho Loan
- Port and Park Bistro
- Side Practice Coffee LLC
- The Cafeteria
- The Comedy Clubhouse
- The Jibarito Stop
- Yummy Buffet
“This grant has already had a monumental impact for our business. We are a minority owned business and started our coffee and bubble tea shop in the height of the pandemic. Overall, this grant has already significantly impacted our business’ growth, and will continue to impact our ability to better serve our local community.” – The Bubble and Brew Team
“My background is Turkish and I belong the one of the smallest minority in the united states. We are almost % 0.05 of the total population. I have struggled to pay my business bills since the pandemic. I took over this bar /restaurant four years ago and it is very old one. I am so grateful to have some help to fix those problems, and most importantly, it makes me feel so happy that there are people like you who still care about others’ problems and give me hope for humanism. We also have a policy that we never turn down if someone asks for free food, and that one started when I received my first check from you.” Ergin Bilgin, Standard Bar and Grill
For more information about The Restaurant Strong Fund and its commitment to supporting the restaurant industry, please visit www.restaurantstrong.org