Visitors came to Chicago in 2025
Choose Chicago reported 56.8 million visitors, nearly 1.5 million more than in 2024.
Source: Choose Chicago, 2025 tourism report, released June 25, 2026 ↗
Chicago dining reference
Chicago Restaurant & Dining Statistics
Current numbers on the city’s restaurant landscape, food inspections, and visitor economy. Updated August 26, 2026.
A city built for a good table.
Chicago’s dining scene is shaped by a large base of food businesses and a steady flow of local and visiting guests. These figures bring together the latest public records available at the time of update, with a direct source beside every statistic.
Visitor spending in Chicago in 2025
Chicago visitors generated a record $21.5 billion in spending across the region.
Source: Choose Chicago, 2025 tourism report, released June 25, 2026 ↗Local jobs supported by visitors
The 2025 tourism report said visitor activity supported 135,360 local jobs across the region.
Source: Choose Chicago, 2025 tourism report, released June 25, 2026 ↗Active Chicago retail food licenses
Chicago’s public retail food establishment records showed 11,029 active license numbers on August 26, 2026.
Source: City of Chicago, Retail Food Establishments dataset, queried August 26, 2026 ↗Businesses behind those active licenses
Those active license records represented 8,998 unique business accounts, a reminder that one operator may hold more than one license.
Source: City of Chicago, Retail Food Establishments dataset, queried August 26, 2026 ↗Food inspection records in 2025
The City of Chicago recorded 19,205 food inspection entries during calendar year 2025.
Source: City of Chicago, Food Inspections dataset, queried August 26, 2026 ↗2025 inspection entries marked Pass
Of the 2025 inspection entries, 10,388 were marked Pass. The city also recorded 2,281 Pass w/ Conditions entries and 3,391 Fail entries.
Source: City of Chicago, Food Inspections dataset, queried August 26, 2026 ↗Leisure travelers planning to return
Choose Chicago reported that 92% of leisure travelers said they planned to return within three years.
Source: Choose Chicago, 2025 tourism report, released June 25, 2026 ↗How to read these numbers
City license totals are a point-in-time count of records marked active on August 26, 2026. Inspection results are individual inspection entries, not a scorecard for any one restaurant. The visitor figures describe Chicago’s regional tourism economy in 2025.
Built for accurate citation.
This page uses primary public records and the city’s official destination marketing organization. Numbers are dated to their underlying report or the date the public record was queried, so readers can use the right context when quoting them.
- Choose Chicago2025 tourism report, released June 25, 2026 ↗
- City of ChicagoRetail Food Establishments dataset, queried August 26, 2026 ↗
- City of ChicagoFood Inspections dataset, queried August 26, 2026 ↗
Cite this page
Port & Park Restaurant | Bar. “Chicago Restaurant & Dining Statistics.” Updated August 26, 2026.
https://portandparkchicago.com/chicago-restaurant-statistics