Grubhub this week awarded cash prizes to 31 Chicago area restaurants that opened in 2020 and are still running five years later.
Most restaurants received $2,500 while two won $5,000. The businesses spanned 25 neighborhoods and offer cuisines including Korean, Thai, Colombian, barbecue, soul food and more.
“Despite the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago entrepreneurs across the city took a leap of faith, opening their restaurant doors during the 2020 lockdown,” Grubhub said in a news release.
The Chicago-based food delivery company launched its Established 2020 program in March on the fifth anniversary of the pandemic.
“We all remember what March 2020 felt like. Overnight, life changed, and the restaurant industry was hit especially hard,” Grubhub CEO Howard Migdal said during an awards reception on Tuesday at BiXi Beer in Logan Square.
“And yet, amid that chaos, the people we’re honoring tonight made the bold decision to start something new. Opening a restaurant is never easy. In fact, 80% of new restaurants close within the first five years. But doing it in 2020? That took extraordinary vision, commitment, and heart,” said Migdal.
One winner, Tastee Rolls, opened a second outlet in November 2020 in Greater Chatham. “We did well during COVID,” said Angel Williams, co-owner of Tastee Rolls, which was always a carryout at its first location in Bellwood, west of Chicago. The eatery offers 21 kinds of egg rolls with fillings such as jerk chicken and Philly steak.
“Everybody loves eggrolls, from my six-year-old customer to my 60-year-old one,” said Williams.
Tastee Rolls used its Grubhub award to give bonuses to employees and strengthen their benefits. The restaurant strives to provide living wage jobs to locals, as well as a sense of purpose, said Williams. About 85% of its 15 employees live within walking or biking distance of work.
Flippin Flavors opened in April 2020 in Beverly. The pandemic hit the jobs of owners Linda and Brian Flippin, who previously worked in dentistry and real estate, respectively. In spite of COVID-19, business boomed for Flippin Flavors’ healthy sandwiches and salads.
“We had a line down the street, like Portillo’s,” said Linda Flippin, who used social media on her phone to promote the business.
Since then, Flippin Flavors has ramped up catering services and also sells in Living Fresh Market in Forest Park. The restaurant used its Grubhub award to buy more inventory and to repair a glass door smashed by a burglar.
Both Tastee Rolls and Flipping Flavor relied on Grubhub from the start, said their owners.
During the pandemic, the online platform helped restaurants pivot to delivery and takeout, cut or waived diner fees and expanded marketing support, said Migdal.
“We worked side by side with restaurant owners to help transition menus, retrain staff and in some cases, even build websites from scratch. In Chicago alone, we saw delivery orders spike by nearly 100% — a sign of how dramatically the landscape shifted,” Migdal added.
In March, Grubhub announced early winners of two $5,000 awards each: KFire, a Korean barbecue restaurant in Logan Square, and Doughboy’s Chicago, whose menu features wings and catfish. It recently relocated to the South Loop.
Chris Fryison, co-owner of Doughboy’s, said the Grubhub award came just as the lease at their former Greater Grand Crossing location was expiring.
The award “gave us a shot in the arm to do the new location. It gave us the mindset to go forward with it,” said Fryison. “With this recognition we can springboard even more.”
Restaurants were not required to be Grubhub partners to be eligible for the awards.
The winners include:
- 10Q Chicken, Evanston
- 14 Parish Restaurant and Rhum Bar, Hyde Park
- Afro Joe’s Coffee & Tea, Beverly
- Alynia Zushi & Karaoke Lounge, Bridgeport
- Basant Modern Indian, North Center
- Beautiful Rind, Logan Square
- Big League Burgers, Irving Park
- CheSa’s Bistro & Bar, Avondale
- Dirty Tiff’s Cafe, Bronzeville
- Doma, Near North Side
- Doughboy’s Chicago, Bronzeville
- Eathai, Logan Square
- Evette’s, Lincoln Park
- Flippin Flavors, Beverly
- Ground Up Cafe, River North
- Kapitan, Lincoln Park
- KFire, Logan Square
- Khepri Cafe, Albany Park
- Kimberli Sushi and Thai Cuisine, Lincoln Square
- La Parrilla Latin Food, Dunning
- Lexington Betty Smoke House, Pullman
- Monkey King Jianbing, Skokie
- Musashiya Ramen, Lake View East
- Pastores and Brunch, Roscoe Village
- Polombia, Loop
- Side Practice Coffee, Ravenswood
- Silk Road of Chicago, Loop
- Similan Thai and Sushi Restaurant, Edgewater
- Tamales Rebe, West Lawn
- Tastee Rolls 2, Chatham
- Thai Pastry Restaurant, Uptown