Levy Restaurants
Subsidiary
Founded1978
FounderLarry Levy & Mark Levy
Hq locationChicago, Illinois, U.S.
Area servedNorth America
Key peopleAndy Lansing
(President and CEO)
Num employees50,000
ParentCompass Group (2006–present)
IndustryHospitality
ProductsFood and Beverage, Retail
RevenueUS$ 1.5 billion (2017)[1]
Website[1]

Levy Restaurants ("Levy") is an American food service and hospitality company based in Chicago, Illinois. Levy provides food and beverage services at entertainment and sports venues, with operations in 80 and more venues in the United States and Canada. It is the largest food service contractor in North American professional sports, with nearly a 40% market share.[2] Founded in 1978 with a single family-run delicatessen in Water Tower Place, Levy has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Britain's Compass Group since 2006.[3]

History

The company was founded in 1968 in Chicago by Larry and Mark Levy of St. Louis. The first property was D.B. Kaplan's Delicatessen in Chicago's Water Tower Place.[4] In 1982, the company began to work in stadiums and arenas with restaurants and food service locations at Chicago's Comiskey Park (former home of the Chicago White Sox) and, in 1985, in Chicago's Wrigley Field (home of the Chicago Cubs.)

In 1989, the company was selected by The Walt Disney Company to own and operate two locations inside Walt Disney World Resort: Terralina Crafted Italian and Portabella.[5] Levy was also a partner in the former Wildhorse Saloon and Fireworks factory location at Walt Disney World. In 1994, they added their first location outside Chicago.[contradictory]

Locations

As of 2025, Levy manages food service operations for facilities in all of the Major North American sports leagues.[2]

Levy's primary competitors in the sports industry include Aramark, Delaware North, Legends Hospitality, and Sodexo.[2]

Levy also manages all food service operations at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, IL.[6] Additionally, Levy owns multiple establishments inside Walt Disney World,[7] and the Uber Arena in Berlin.[8]

Restaurants

In addition to Levy's role as a food & beverage provider at sports and entertainment venues, Levy operates several standalone restaurants and restaurants integrated into other businesses:[9]

  • The restaurants in the Chicago and New York American Girl stores, called "American Girl Cafés."
  • Line & Lure Seafood Kitchen & Tap in Ridgefield, WA.
  • Locations for Michael Jordan's Steak House in Chicago and The Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut and South Korea.
  • Terralina Crafted Italian Restaurant, The Paddlefish Restaurant, and Parkside Market at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
  • The River Roast and Jake Melnick's Corner Tap in Chicago.

Levy formerly ran the restaurant, Maddon's Post, as a partnership between Chef Tony Mantuano and former Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon, until it closed in 2019.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ "Chicago Business Journal". bizjournals.com. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  2. ^ McCormick, Bret (2025-11-30). "Sports Food & Beverage: Key players in the industry". Sports Business Journal. Archived 2025-07-26 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ Channick, Robert (January 31, 2019). "From a Chicago deli to the Super Bowl: How two brothers built a food industry powerhouse". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  4. ^ Levy Restaurants History and Heritage 2005 Archived June 30, 2006 at the Wayback Machine. "Levy Restaurants."
  5. ^ "1989: We Made It To Disney World.". Levy Restaurants. Retrieved 30 May 2026.
  6. ^ Barnes, Rachel (2025-06-04). "Ravina Festival's Chef Dishes On This Year's New Menu". Highland Park, IL Patch. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
  7. ^ McCormick, Bret (2025-11-30). "Levy to take over ESPN Wide World of Sports F&B". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
  8. ^ "Burgermeister moves into the Uber Arena and starts exclusive partnership with AEG". Burgermeister. 2025-10-17. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
  9. ^ "What we do - Levy Restaurants". Levy Restaurants. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
  10. ^ Selvam, Ashok (March 20, 2019). "Cubs' Joe Maddon and Spiaggia's Tony Mantuano Reveal Name of Wrigley Restaurant". Eater Chicago
  11. ^ Selvam, Ashok (2019-12-30). "Maddon’s Post, the Wrigleyville Restaurant Named for the Ex-Cubs Manager, Closes". Eater Chicago. Retrieved 2026-05-12.