Beard & Belly

What Beard & Belly does

Beard & Belly is a privately-held, single-location neighborhood restaurant and bar operating in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood at 6157 N Broadway. Founded around 2020, the establishment is built around a tightly defined menu of beer, burgers, and scratch-made pie, with the pie component supplied through a sister-brand relationship with Honeypie Bakeshop. The business serves three primary customer segments: local Edgewater residents seeking casual dining and a community gathering space, event hosts arranging catering and private functions, and entertainment seekers attending a regular programming calendar that includes weekly trivia, table-side magic performances, Pie Sessions workshops, drag shows, and themed brunches.

The operation runs on a straightforward traditional restaurant model with no proprietary technology stack beyond the Toasttab platform that powers carry-out and delivery ordering. Revenue is generated across four streams: dine-in food and beverage sales (the core), off-site catering for weddings and corporate events, ticketed/recurring entertainment programming, and pop-up appearances at partner breweries and community festivals such as Midsommarfest in Andersonville and the Edgewater Music Festival. Marketing is executed primarily through Instagram, an email newsletter, and a website events calendar, supplemented by a network of brewery partnerships (Dovetail, Old Irving, Begyle, Maplewood, Hopewell) and community collaborators (Edgewater Chamber of Commerce, DMApothecary, Sfera Chicago).

The company is independently owned with no disclosed external funding, no parent company, no institutional investors, and no expansion beyond the single Edgewater storefront. It is not a technology or venture-backed business; there are no AI/ML capabilities, no patents, no certifications, and no public revenue disclosures. Operational indicators — including a 5th Birthday Bash in April 2025 and a planned 6th Birthday Bash in April 2026, sustained brewery partnerships, and an active events calendar — point to a stable, community-anchored small business rather than a scaling enterprise.

Name

Beard & Belly

Legal name

Beard & Belly

Website

https://beardandbellychicago.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Beard & Belly is a privately-owned, single-location neighborhood restaurant and bar in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood serving beer, burgers, and pie, with dine-in, carry-out, delivery, catering, and a recurring entertainment and events calendar for local residents and event hosts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Casual Dining Restaurant & Bar

NAICS

Restaurants and Other Eating Places (72251), Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (722410), Food Services and Drinking Places (722)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Dessert Cafes & Dessert Bars (Sit-Down) (THAFAGAI)

Keywords

• Casual dining restaurant
• Craft beer bar
• Burger restaurant
• Event catering services
• Neighborhood bar

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Food & Beverage Sales: Core revenue from selling beer, burgers, pie, and other food and beverage items to dine-in, carry-out, and delivery customers.
2. Catering Services: Catering for weddings, social gatherings, corporate lunches, and events. Revenue generated through pre-arranged catering orders and on-site event catering.
3. Events & Entertainment: Revenue from hosted events including trivia nights, magic shows, bingo, book club, music brunches, and specialty themed events like Pie Sessions workshops.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Beard & Belly is a neighborhood restaurant and bar located in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood that serves scratch-made burgers, craft beer, and pies (sourced from affiliated Honeypie Bakeshop). The establishment operates as a dine-in venue with patio seating, supports carry-out and delivery through Toast Tab, hosts a regular calendar of entertainment events (trivia, magic shows, live music, workshops), and provides off-site catering for weddings, corporate events, and social gatherings.

Product overview

Beard & Belly is a single-location neighborhood restaurant and bar in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood offering a unified dining experience. The establishment provides dine-in, carry-out, and delivery services centered on burgers, craft beer, and pies (particularly from the affiliated Honeypie Bakeshop). Additional offerings include catering services, event hosting (trivia nights, magic performances, themed brunches, workshops), pop-up collaborations at breweries, and space rental for private events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dine-In Restaurant & Bar Service
• Off-Site Catering
• Private Event Space Rental & Reservations
• Pop-Up Food Service
• Online Ordering (Carry-Out & Delivery)

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

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, regular and minor.

• Honeypie BakeshopcoreOthersRelated brand linked on Beard & Belly's website. Honeypie Bakeshop shares the same ownership and is located at a nearby or same location, providing the pie offerings at Beard & Belly.
• Dovetail BrewerycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerFeatured brewery partner with monthly spotlight. Dovetail has a longstanding relationship with Beard & Belly, serving as 'BREWERY OF THE MONTH' and participating in joint events like Franconian Night and Oktoberfestiversary celebrations.
• Old Irving BrewingcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerFeatured as Brewery of the Month for June, with exclusive taps including Sir Reginald Czech Pilsner, Beezer Hazy IPA, Cushy Berry Sour, and Della Kolsch.
• Begyle BrewingregularGTM or Marketing PartnerCollaborating brewery partner featured in events including Oktoberfestiversary with Dovetail.
• Maplewood BreweryregularGTM or Marketing PartnerFeatured partner brewery for events including Corndoggers & Corn Lagers festival.
• Hopewell BrewingregularGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner brewery featured in Oktoberfest @ Hopewell event.
• DMApothecaryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity collaboration partner mentioned in the collaborations section of the website.
• Sfera ChicagominorGTM or Marketing PartnerNeighboring business and community partner at Midsommarfest in Andersonville.
• Chicago Abortion FundminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCharitable partner receiving donations from pie of the month sales, demonstrating community impact initiatives.
• Edgewater Chamber of CommerceminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner for community events including Happy Hour Networking events.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Shake Shack: National better-burger chain with a strong beer and beverage program and a polished, community-oriented brand. Provides a benchmark for how Beard & Belly's burger-and-beer core could scale if the brand expanded beyond a single location.
• Goose Island Beer Co. Established Chicago craft brewery with brewpub and tied-house food operations across multiple locations. Wider brewery-with-food footprint that competes with Beard & Belly on beer selection and beer-and-food occasions, but at materially larger scale.

Direct peers

• Hopleaf: Long-running neighborhood bar and restaurant in Chicago's Andersonville with a deep craft beer list and full food menu. Closest format-comparable peer to Beard & Belly's bar-plus-casual-food model in an adjacent North Side neighborhood.
• The Violet Hour: Bottle-and-cocktail-focused neighborhood bar in Chicago's Wicker Park. Applicable peer for the bar-side component of Beard & Belly's business, particularly around craft beverage selection and a strong identity-driven brand.
• Emporium Arcade Bar: Multi-location Chicago bar that built its identity around bar games, live entertainment, and themed events. Comparable to Beard & Belly's strategy of using a dense events calendar to drive weekday traffic and repeat visits.
• Piece Brewery & Pizzeria: Wicker Park brewpub combining house-brewed craft beer, pizza, and a busy events calendar. Matches Beard & Belly's combination of brewery partnerships, scratch food, and event-driven repeat traffic.
• The Drifter: Chicago bar built around immersive programming, performance, and themed nights. Closest direct comparison to Beard & Belly's reliance on a curated events calendar to differentiate a small-footprint venue.
• Northdown Cafe & Banquets: Long-standing neighborhood bar and event venue on Chicago's North Side with catering and private-event offerings. Comparable to Beard & Belly's neighborhood scale, catering revenue stream, and banquet-style use of space.
• Timothy O'Toole's Pub Chicago: Streeterville pub and sports bar serving a wide beer list and casual American fare. Comparable neighborhood bar-and-grill operating model with diverse events programming and a similar cater-and-deliver revenue mix.
• Revolution Brewing — Brewpub: Chicago's largest independent brewery with a brewpub that pairs house-brewed beer with a full food menu and regular events. Directly parallel to Beard & Belly's brewery partnership model and beer-and-burger positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/beardbelly
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/beardandbelly

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Beard & Belly