Spare Time

Name

Spare Time

Legal name

Spare Time Inc.

Website

https://sparetimechicago.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Spare Time Inc. is a Chicago-based private hospitality operator that owns and runs seven restaurants, bars, and boutique bowling venues across Chicago and Evanston, serving walk-in diners, casual entertainment guests, and private event hosts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Restaurant and bar sales: Direct food and beverage revenue from operating multiple Chicago-area restaurants and bars, each with its own atmosphere and menu, since 1989.
2. Boutique bowling and entertainment: Revenue from three boutique bowling alleys operated within the venue portfolio, including lane rentals and related entertainment offerings.
3. Private events and parties: Event and party hosting revenue from customizable packages accommodating up to 300 guests across birthdays, corporate outings, weddings, and other private events, booked directly via venue websites or [email protected].

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Spare Time Inc. owns and operates a portfolio of seven Chicago-area hospitality venues (six in Chicago, one in Evanston, IL) that deliver food and beverage service, boutique bowling, and customizable private event hosting. The portfolio includes restaurant/bar sub-brands (Seven Ten Chicago, Firehouse Grill, Daily Bar, Burnt City Brewing) and a boutique bowling/event venue (Southport Lanes), with event spaces accommodating up to 300 guests for birthdays, corporate outings, and weddings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Seven Ten Chicago: Restaurant and bar establishment operated by Spare Time Inc.
• Firehouse Grill
• Daily Bar
• Burnt City Brewing
• Southport Lanes

Products and services

• Spare Time Event & Party Services Customizable private event and party hosting services offered across Spare Time Inc.'s boutique bowling alleys and event spaces, accommodating birthday celebrations, corporate outings, weddings, and other private events for up to 300 guests. Customers book via individual venue websites and the [email protected] inbox.
• Seven Ten Chicago A Chicago restaurant and bar establishment owned and operated by Spare Time Inc., serving dine-in guests from the Chicago metro area with food and beverage offerings.
• Firehouse Grill A Chicago restaurant and bar establishment owned and operated by Spare Time Inc., serving dine-in guests with food and beverage offerings.
• Daily Bar A Chicago bar establishment owned and operated by Spare Time Inc., serving bar patrons from the Chicago area.
• Burnt City Brewing A Chicago brewery and restaurant establishment owned and operated by Spare Time Inc., serving food and house-brewed beer to dine-in guests.
• Southport Lanes A Chicago boutique bowling alley and event venue owned and operated by Spare Time Inc., offering bowling lane rentals and event hosting for up to 300 guests.

Quantifiable outcome

• Event spaces accommodating up to 300 guests
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Direct peers

• Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises: Largest independent multi-concept Chicago restaurant group operating dozens of distinct restaurant brands. Closest direct peer to Spare Time's multi-brand, single-metro operating model, with substantially greater scale and a broader concept portfolio.
• Gibsons Restaurant Group: Chicago-based independent restaurant group (Gibsons Steakhouse, Hugo's Frog Bar, The Palm). Comparable Chicago-anchored multi-venue operator with a strong events/corporate-dining business and similar brand-portfolio structure.
• Southport Lanes: Boutique bowling alley and event venue operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Spare Time Inc. Direct operating asset within the subject portfolio rather than an external peer — included for context on the bowling/event format.
• Punch Bowl Social: National eatertainment chain combining bowling, dining, bars, and private events. Closest national concept peer to Spare Time's bowling-plus-restaurant-plus-events format, but operating at national scale with a more digitally-driven marketing engine.
• Pinstripes: Boutique bowling, bocce, and bistro concept with large private-event focus. Mirrors Spare Time's integrated dining + boutique bowling + upscale-events positioning at a multi-city scale.
• Burnt City Brewing: Brewery and restaurant operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Spare Time Inc. Comparable craft brewery + taproom format to independent Chicago brewpubs, included as a format reference rather than an external competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Bowlero: Largest operator of bowling entertainment centers in North America. Overlaps with Spare Time's bowling lanes at vastly greater scale and capital intensity, but lacks Spare Time's independent restaurant and brewery integration.
• Brinker International: Public casual-dining operator (Chili's, Maggiano's). Provides a publicly traded benchmark for casual-dining unit economics, labor cost exposure, and comparable-event revenue mix relevant to Spare Time's restaurant base.
• Dine Brands Global: Public franchisor of Applebee's and IHOP. Useful broad-incumbent reference for casual-dining traffic trends and consumer discretionary spending patterns affecting Spare Time's restaurant and bar segments.

Regional players

• Revolution Brewing: Largest independent craft brewery in Chicago with brewpub and beer garden operations. Comparable format to Spare Time's Burnt City Brewing on a Chicago brewpub basis, though not directly competitive at the multi-venue portfolio level.

Market position

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

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 Spare Time