FARE

What FARE does

FARE (legal entity FARE Holding LLC, an Illinois LLC, DBA "Food by FARE") is a Chicago-based fast-casual restaurant brand founded in 2010 by Kasia Bednarz around the thesis that "fast food can be real food." The company operates 13+ company-owned locations across the Chicago metro area — including street-front stores in Old Town, Lake + LaSalle, 150 Riverside, the Loop, Oak Park, Logan Square, the Old Post Office, and the Lakeview area, plus food-hall and institutional sites at Sterling Food Hall and Northwestern Memorial Hospital — with three additional units announced (Lakeview Summer 2026; Plaza Midwood and Queensbridge Collective in Charlotte, NC, Fall 2026), marking its first expansion outside Illinois. The core menu is built around seasonal bowls, plates, build-your-own meals, breakfast items, smoothies, sweets, and specialty coffee, executed 99% in-house from scratch with no seed oils, limited refined sugars, and locally sourced ingredients.

The technology stack supporting operations comprises an iOS/Android mobile app, an online ordering platform at orders.foodbyfare.com, the Toast POS/payment system for in-store and online transactions, AWS cloud infrastructure (as evidenced by the company's public note about an AWS outage disrupting ordering), and the "Garden Club" points-based loyalty program that spans both retail and catering orders. Revenue is generated almost entirely through direct-to-consumer food and beverage sales — dine-in, takeout, pickup, and delivery — supplemented by a catering service for corporate and event customers with delivery within an 8-mile radius and a co-branded partnership with RMBR Kombucha. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and the company has not released revenue figures; the Form D filed with the SEC in August 2024 indicated a ~$3.5 million exempt securities offering (target raise ~$1.8M) without disclosing revenue or net asset value.

FARE is a privately held, founder-led company with no disclosed institutional investors, no parent company, and no subsidiaries. The management team is anchored solely by founder Kasia Bednarz, with headcount reported at 11-50 employees concentrated across operational and culinary roles. The go-to-market motion is direct-to-consumer physical retail with a digital layer for ordering, loyalty accrual, and catering bookings, and the customer base is primarily individual health-conscious consumers with a single named enterprise anchor (Northwestern Memorial Hospital on-site foodservice) and SMB event catering accounts.

Name

FARE

Legal name

FARE HOLDING LLC

Website

https://foodbyfare.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

FARE (Food by FARE) is a Chicago-based fast-casual restaurant brand operating 13+ company-owned locations serving seasonal, scratch-cooked bowls, plates, breakfast, smoothies, and coffee to health-conscious consumers, with catering and a mobile-ordering loyalty program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fast Casual Dining

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Caterers (72232), Special Food Services (7223)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

All-Day Dining Restaurants (THAFACAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Event Catering (Weddings, Social, Private Parties) (THAFAIAB), Full-Service Catering (Off-Premise) (HSACAGAA)

Keywords

• Fast casual dining
• Healthy restaurant chain
• Seasonal menu
• Corporate catering
• Loyalty program

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices13 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Dine-in and Takeout Food Sales: Revenue from food and beverage sales at physical restaurant locations, including dine-in and takeout orders.
2. Online and Mobile Ordering: Revenue from orders placed through the company's website and mobile application, processed via Toast payment platform.
3. Catering Services: Corporate and event catering services offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner options with delivery within 8-mile radius. Delivery fee starts at $30 or 10% of total order amount.
4. Delivery Services: Revenue from third-party delivery orders placed through the platform.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

FARE operates a fast-casual restaurant chain selling seasonal bowls, plates, build-your-own meals, breakfast items, sides, sweets, smoothies, and beverages for dine-in, takeout, and delivery from 13+ company-owned locations across Chicago and upcoming Charlotte, NC. The company also provides corporate and event catering services with build-your-own bowl bars, delivery, and setup, supported by a mobile app, online ordering platform, and the Garden Club loyalty program.

Product overview

FARE is a fast-casual restaurant chain operating as a single unified brand with multiple product lines. The core offering consists of made-from-scratch seasonal bowls, plates, and build-your-own meals featuring proteins, grains, vegetables, and signature sauces. Complementary product lines include a full breakfast menu (egg sandwiches, wraps, overnight oats, yogurt parfaits), smoothies, sweets (cookies, brownies, muffins), and beverages (espresso drinks, iced coffee, tea, kombucha, and other drinks). The company offers catering services for corporate events and gatherings with build-your-own bowl bars and delivery. Supporting the core food products are a mobile app (iOS/Android) for ordering and loyalty (Garden Club rewards program) that spans both regular and catering orders. The company operates multiple physical restaurant locations across Chicago and Charlotte, with online ordering available through their web platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Seasonal Bowls & Plates

Quantifiable outcome

• 99% of menu items made in-house
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• RMBR KombuchacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 June 2026RMBR kombucha announced a collaboration with FARE to create a limited edition kombucha featuring fresh, organic ingredients and honest sourcing, available at all FARE locations. The companies celebrated their partnership through a joint product launch and announced a grand opening event for FARE's newest Logan Square location. The collaboration highlights mutual values of quality sourcing and community engagement between the two local Chicago businesses.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/foodbyfare

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FARE