"We Exceeded Their Expectations"

Larry Levy’s initial success came with opening a number of award-winning restaurants in Chicago, the most famous of them Spiaggia. But Levy Restaurants hit the big leagues after the firm began catering the first skybox suites in the country at Comiskey Park in Chicago. "With sports, people expected a bad meal. Our strategy was to do only premium food service," he said. "The feedback was, 'You guys are brilliant! How do you do food that good at the ballpark?' It wasn’t nearly as good as the food in the restaurants. It was made the day before, sent there in a truck, and warmed up. But we exceeded expectations. I think that’s an observation that any business can use."

Levy Restaurants now has the catering contract for 66 sports and entertainment venues and caters such events as the World Series, Kentucky Derby, and the Grammy Awards. Levy, who recently retired as CEO of the restaurant division, is CEO of his real estate development company. He was morning keynote speaker at the sixth annual Willis Stein Entrepreneurial Edge Conference hosted November 12 in Chicago by the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Group and the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship at Chicago GSB.

 

—Patricia Houlihan