FoodLab Chicago 5.0

FoodLab Chicago is an insightful educational program designed for chefs, restaurateurs, caterers, food truck vendors, culinary artists, and other food-related businesses who are looking to take their businesses to the next level. FoodLab Chicago is excited to welcome participants to our FoodLab 5.0 cohort to engage in a blend of classroom training sessions and one-on-one coaching curated to enhance and strengthen your skills in food service account management, food costing, and more.

Foodlab Chicago 5.0 will kick off on January 29th, 2024, with Menu Engineering Specialist Sean Willard. Food businesses implementing Sean’s tips and techniques have increased their revenues from 3% to 38%!

Applications for FoodLab 5.0 are being accepted now and will close on Friday, January 19th, 2024. Please submit your application early for review and approval, as seating is limited.
Thanks to our sponsors, participation in our FoodLab 5.0 Cohort is free

Applicant Qualifications

Since its launch, FoodLab Chicago has assisted 62 Black-owned South Side Chicago businesses. Selected participants have acquired over $6.6 million in grants and loans and increased their profits with menu engineering from 3% to 38%.
FoodLab Chicago seeks to support Black and Brown food service entrepreneurs who have been operating for at least 18 months and are located in Chicago.
Topics include Menu Engineering, Plate Costing, Food Service Accounting Management, Marketing, and more…

Cohort member Responsibilities

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Attend weekly in-person sessions each Monday from 9:00 am to 12:00pm.
Location: Chicago Cook Workforce Center
640 E. 79th Street, Floor 2
Chicago, IL 60619

Tentative Program Dates for the Sessions

Monday 1/29/2024 – Week 1: Introduction to FoodLab Chicago, Menu Engineering (Sean Willard)
Monday 2/5/2024 – Week 2: Plate Costing
Monday 2/12/2024 – Week 3: Intro to Meez
Monday 2/26/2024 – Week 4: Food Service Big Three & Recipe Building in Meez
Sunday 3/4/2024 – Week 5: Nutritional Data/build own recipe in Meez
Monday 3/11/2024 – Week 6: Food Service Accounting –
Monday 3/18/2024 – Week 7: Food Service Accounting Management
Monday 3/25/2024 – Week 8: Marketing – Storytelling – (Sean Willard)
Monday 4/1/2024 – Week 9: Market Research – Menu Pricing
Monday 4/8/2024 – Week 10: Market Research – Cobalt Market Research
Monday 4/15/2024 – Week 11: Market Research – Brand Development
Monday 4/22/2024 – Week 12: Growth Strategy – Uprooting your Business Model
Monday 4/29/2024 – Week 13: Best Practices & Maximizing your space
Monday 5/6/2024 – Week 14: Food Service Inventory Process
Monday 5/13/2024 – Week 15: Access to Capital
Monday 5/20/2024 – Week 16: Graduation!

FoodLab Chicago

Your restaurant’s financial prosperity begins on the plate. We partner with restaurant owners for rapid growth and prepare them to access capital and build great company culture. Our growth-oriented, practical, peer-to-peer driven workshops are designed to drive our cohort members to enhance their business practices, resulting in increased revenues, and a strong company culture required to hire and retain great staff.

what we do

Plate Costing & Menu Engineering

If every plate is profitable, then the restaurant will be profitable!

Implementing MEEZ Culinary software to drill down into each plate’s profitability. Menu matrix building to analyze and maximize profitability, including pricing.

Knowing your numbers to make data driven decisions

Are you making a profit? How do you know?

Prime cost tracking gives you real-time tracking of your labor and food expenses, giving you the data to make decisions.

Maximize profits to support marketing, team development, sustainable wages, etc.

Building your team
Digital PRESENCE

How to pull off working “ON” your business versus always working “IN” your business?

Build your team combined with SOPs.

77% of frequent diners will check out the restaurant’s website before deciding to eat in or order out. Build your patron database