WHAT YOUR DCFG SUBSCRIPTION INCLUDES
Creating the most accurate lists of your real competitors, the DCFG provides rich restaurant specific analytic commentary (60 restaurants on the Best of the Best list), marketing observations & recommendations not available elsewhere. The DCFG’s neighborhood and Community Area crime profiles (raw & per-capita) are also unique within the industry.
The restaurant ownership and proprietary restaurant lists by category are uniquely insightful, particularly the detailed commentary applicable to the lists. Subscriptions also include organized links to restaurant menus, happy hours, wine lists, photos, restaurant sponsored events and downtown upscale restaurant industry news & insights.
The DCFG’s target market is thriving, but it is intensely competitive. While not fully understood, social media and socialization are driving today’s restaurant growth. Chicago is a restaurant event heavy city, but it is difficult to stay current because the aggregators and AI both miss the majority of the specific restaurant sponsored events. It is, however, imperative for Restaurants to know what successful competitors are doing to fuel growth.
Included in the subscription, the DCFG is the only resource that tracks ALL the upscale individual restaurant sponsored events in our target market. To measure effectiveness and share it with subscribers, the events will be hosted on the DCFG gateway website and Instagram page. The DCFG’s foodies will also attend the restaurant sponsored events, feature them on our upcoming Instagram page and highlight all the upcoming events. To ensure coverage, upscale restaurants in the DCFG’s target market should forward details about their ongoing restaurant sponsored events to DCFG@DowntownChicagoFoodie.com.
Both August 2026 events, Trino’s Anniversary Patio Party (8/6) and Ummo’s sold-out La Vita e Bella Anniversary Party (8/29) were good examples of these events. While quite different, both were successful high value events. See below for some of the September events.
Socialization Is The Path To Growth
Provare: 5th Anniversary Casino Ball (9/6)
The Wit: White on the Wit (9/7)
Avec West Loop: Farmer’s Market Dinner (9/13)
Adalina Italian: A Night in Capri 9/16)
Deliz: Frog’s Leap Wine Dinner (9/16)
Miru: Bluefin Butcher & Chef’s Dinner (9/16)
Cabra: Annual Rooftop Cookout (9/17)
Acanto: The Most Important Italian Wine 9/16)
Portofino Pizzeria: Pink on the River 9/18)
Aba: Spanish Cellar Wine Tasting Series (9/23)
Avec River North: The Great Chefs Table 9/23)
Adalina Italian: SOMM Sessions (9/25)
Trino: Live Spanish Guitars (9/27)
ESME: One Night At Esme (9/28)
Carlyle Club: Private Creator Night (9/28)
Petite Edith: American Bistronomy Collaborative Dinner (9/29)
Petite Edith: Ascending (9/17)
The Illinois Restaurant Association Annual Chefs Table (4/23) and the premier ChicagoGourmet culinary festival (9/23-9/27) are notable events, but they are not restaurant specific sponsored events. Some components of the multi-event Chicago Gourmet include the Global Stage Dinner, Grand Cru upscale wine tasting and the Dine Around Series, featuring eighty different restaurants. The Green City Market Annual Chef BBQ (9/10) is another similar event that brings many chefs, restaurants and others together, but it is not a restaurant specific sponsored event.
In short, your DCFG subscription includes:
- Neighborhood & Community Area Crime Analysis
- Monitoring & Measuring The Effectiveness Of Restaurant Events
- Target Market Restaurant Category Lists & Commentary
- Target Market Restaurant Analytic Commentary, Marketing Observations & Recommendations (60 restaurants on the Best of the Best list)
- Downtown Upscale Restaurant Industry News & Insights.
- Organized Target Market Restaurant Ownership History
- Organized Target Market Links To Menus, Happy Hours, Wine Lists, Happenings,Events, Private Clubs, Lounges & Images
Proprietary Restaurant Lists
The DCFG currently maintains the primary and secondary restaurant lists shown below. Many of restaurants on the secondary lists are excellent and candidates for the primary lists. All lists are dynamic, subject to ongoing change and included in the subscription price. Many of the lists include valuable, detailed commentary. The detailed list commentary is independent from the rich restaurant specific analytical commentary.
- Chicago's Best of the Best, Downtown Trendy, Fun, Upscale Restaurants (63)
- Chicago's Best Downtown Trendy, Fun, Upscale Restaurants With A Vibrant Bar & Social Scene (40)
- Chicago's Best Downtown Trendy, Fun, Upscale Restaurants With A Happy Hour (35)
- Chicago's Best Downtown Trendy, Fun, Luxurious, Fine Dining Restaurants (19)
- Chicago's Best Downtown Trendy, Fun, Upscale Primary Italian Restaurants (29)
- Chicago's Best Downtown Trendy, Fun, Upscale Secondary Target Market Italian Restaurants (30)
- Chicago's Best Downtown Trendy, Fun, Upscale Secondary "Outside" Target Market Italian (28)
- Chicago's Best Downtown Trendy, Fun, Upscale Primary Steakhouse Restaurants (19)
- Chicago's Best Downtown Trendy, Fun, Upscale Secondary Target Market Steakhouse Restaurants (16)
- Chicago's Best Downtown Trendy, Fun, Upscale Primary French Restaurants (29)
- Chicago's Best Downtown Trendy, Fun, Upscale Pizzerias (7)
- Chicago's Best Downtown Upscale Fixed Tasting Menu Restaurants (17)
- Chicago's Best Downtown Trendy, Fun, Upscale Rooftops (19)
While the DCFG maintains a list of the Prix Fixe restaurants with fixed tasting menus & price, the category is not currently included in our Best of the Best Downtown Trendy, Fun, Upscale Restaurants list. Given that the Prix Fixe (fixed menu/pricing) category includes some of Chicago’s most highly rated restaurants like Alinea, Ever, Oriole & Smyth, a new Best of the Best list including the Prix Fixe, Seasonal & Farm-to-Table restaurants will be available later in the year.
Subscribe & Join The Inner Circle
To join the inner circle, save time and money, individual subscriptions are available for $5,000 per year. Group subscriptions are available for $7,500 year. Individual and the currently unlimited group subscriptions are available to Hospitality Groups, Investors, Real Estate Developers, Restaurants and others in the restaurant trade.
For a limited time, the group subscriptions will include an UNLIMITED number of owners, executives and other key personnel that have a corporate group email address. Contact DCFG for exceptions to the corporate email requirement. While Group Hospitality subscriptions include all key personnel, they do not include the restaurant personnel they have a stake in. If you want and/or need a group subscription, suggest you process it now.
Group restaurant subscriptions include key personnel and multiple locations, but they do not include Hospitality Groups that own, manage or invest in them unless their restaurant ownership is limited to the restaurant subscriber.
The analysis is ongoing and distributed throughout the year by email as components are updated, added or deleted. While subscriptions may be cancelled at any time, annual refunds are not available after distribution starts.
Subscriptions can be processed online or by check. Subscription checks should be payable and mailed to the Downtown Chicago Foodie LLC, PO Box 8, Western Springs, IL 60558. To expedite the process, those paying by check and Group Subscribers should include or email the name, title and corporate email address of those on their subscription list. Corporations that need an EIN for a subscription by check should use 42-3818718. Contact the DCFG for more information at DCFG@DowntownChicagoFoodie.com
While our analysis has been drawn from multiple sources believed to be accurate, the accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. The information is also dynamic and may not be current. Subject to meaningful penalty, the DCFG subscription analysis may not be copied or redistributed under any circumstances. The sample analysis and sample restaurant list may, however, be distributed and quoted at will without restriction, cost, penalty or permission, assuming the DCFG is noted as the source.
The DCFG analysis is trade exclusive and does not accept advertising. It is not available to the public, restaurant critics, review services, Substack and individual newsletters.
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The DCFG is not part of the Chicago Foodie Meeting Group, the Chicago Foodies Facebook Group or the r/Chicago Reddit Community.