New Restaurant Businesses in Chicago

826 new restaurant businesses were licensed in Chicago in the past year. Sourced from City of Chicago license records, updated daily.

Counts are based on first-ever Chicago business licenses. A license is not an opening date — some businesses open weeks later, and some are already operating when the license is issued.

5
New this week
63
Last 30 days
211
Last 90 days
826
Past year

In the past year, 826 new restaurant businesses were licensed in Chicago — 63 in the last 30 days, roughly in line with the past year’s average. Recent licenses cluster in Near West Side, Loop, and Near North Side.

Most recent license on file: September 4, 2026. Data refreshed daily from the City of Chicago open data portal.

How to read this data

"New businesses" = accounts receiving their first-ever Chicago business license, excluding pop-up/transient permits. Counts are based on first-ever Chicago business licenses. A license is not an opening date — some businesses open weeks later, and some are already operating when the license is issued. Every count on this page comes from that same daily City of Chicago license feed.

Recently licensed

Where restaurant businesses are opening

Neighborhoods ranked by their share of the 200 newest restaurant licenses, issued since June 17, 2026.

New restaurant businesses by neighborhood

Every Chicago neighborhood with a dedicated page for new restaurant businesses. Numbers show businesses first licensed in the past year.

Sell to new restaurant businesses?

Restaurant is a target category on these lead pages.

Reach Chicago’s newest restaurant businesses first.

BizPulse turns the daily Chicago license feed into a filterable, exportable lead list — the moment a business opens. Get the Monday digest of the week’s newest businesses, no account needed.

Search every new Chicago business →All new-business categories →

Common questions

How many new restaurant businesses are there in Chicago?

BizPulse has 1,744 restaurant businesses on file that were newly licensed in Chicago, including 826 in the past year and 63 in the last 30 days. Counts are based on first-ever Chicago business licenses. A license is not an opening date — some businesses open weeks later, and some are already operating when the license is issued.

Where are new restaurant businesses licensed most often in Chicago?

Among the 200 most recently licensed restaurant businesses BizPulse has on file, licenses cluster in Near West Side, Loop, Near North Side, Logan Square, and West Town.

What share of new Chicago businesses are restaurant?

Restaurant businesses made up about 20.4% of all new business licenses issued in Chicago in the past year (826 of 4,040).

What counts as a "new" restaurant business?

"New businesses" = accounts receiving their first-ever Chicago business license, excluding pop-up/transient permits. Counts are based on first-ever Chicago business licenses. A license is not an opening date — some businesses open weeks later, and some are already operating when the license is issued.

How often is this data updated?

BizPulse re-ingests the City of Chicago business-license feed every day. A newly issued license is typically searchable here within a week of being licensed.