Chicago loses 2,100 restaurant jobs as industry fights mandated wage
hikes
[May 05, 2026]
By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – As Chicago’s efforts to phase out sub-minimum
wages are proposed nationwide, a restaurant industry advocate says the
city’s mandate has led to job losses and empty storefronts.
According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, Chicago’s restaurant
industry lost 2,100 jobs in the last year.
Illinois Restaurant Association President and CEO Sam Toia said Chicago
is 10,000 jobs below pre-pandemic levels, and independent restaurants
have suffered more since Mayor Brandon Johnson began phasing out the tip
credit.
“Sure, I might be making a little bit more an hour as a server, but I'm
not making as much as I was making before because I'm working less
hours. This is what no one is reporting. We're cutting hours. We're
cutting menus, and we're going to keep doing that,” Toia told The Center
Square.
The One Fair Wage ordinance passed by the city council in 2023 would
sunset Chicago’s tipped wage structure in 2028.
In March, Johnson vetoed a city council measure to freeze the tipped
wage phaseout.
Toia said the mayor doesn’t understand that jobs are being lost and that
a major steakhouse in the city just went from 22 servers to 16.
“We're losing jobs. Restaurants are closing. All you have to do is look
up and down our commercial streets here in the city of Chicago,” Toia
said.
Toia said 496 Chicago restaurants closed in the first half of 2025. He
said labor costs have gone up 35% since the COVID-19 pandemic and
product costs are up 33%.
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Wooden tables and chairs are arranged inside a restaurant. Photo:
Alan Wooten / The Center Square
Last week, Illinois U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, introduced
legislation to eliminate sub-minimum wages across the country. The
measure would also raise the national minimum wage to $25 by 2031
for large employers and by 2038 for smaller employers.
When asked by The Center Square if her bill might lead to reduced
employment, Ramirez said that’s the argument by people who don't
want to pay living wages to their employees.
“But the reality is that right now you have people having to work
two jobs so they can go maybe to the restaurant once a month or once
every six months because they're barely making it,” Ramirez told The
Center Square.
Ramirez said she has been a supervisor since she was 19 years old.
“I could tell you that having employees that are getting paid living
wages also guarantees retention, quality in employment and certainly
the kind of morale necessary to have businesses be successful,”
Ramirez said.
State Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago, proposed Illinois House Bill
4263 to preempt municipalities from eliminated the sub-minimum wage.
Toia said he applauded Tarver for introducing the bill, but Toia
said he did not expect it to pass before the current legislative
session ends May 31.
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