What The Bear did for Chicago restaurants, Madia says
Chicago restaurateur Donnie Madia says FX's The Bear — featuring Ayo Edebiri — has given Chicago restaurants a tangible economic boost as the series ends its fifth and final season. Fans of ayo the bear are lining up at on-screen favorites like Mr. Beef and Kasama, while the buzz fills dining rooms and feeds citywide tourism.
Key Takeaways
- Madia, partner at One Off Hospitality Group, says The Bear's fifth and final season capped a hospitality "love letter" to Chicago.
- Publican Quality Meats supplied Slagel Family Farm products and butchery know-how to the production.
- Viewers are driving lines at Kasama and Mr. Beef and ordering avec's short rib and hummus after seeing it in Season 2.
- Post-pandemic timing mattered: renewed interest helped fill rooms and spill tourism into hotels, wineries, and farms.
- Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach recently cooked on camera for NYT Cooking after the finale wrapped.
What has The Bear done for Chicago restaurants?
In a Chicago Tribune opinion piece, Madia argues the show's real power is how honestly it portrays cooks, servers, bartenders, dishwashers, and chefs — and how that honesty has moved people off the couch and into the city.
He points to patient lines outside Genie Kwon's Kasama for pastries and crowds stretching down the block at Mr. Beef as out-of-town guests chase a taste of what they saw on screen. At avec, guests still order the short rib and hummus because Season 2 put the dish in the spotlight.
Madia's group helped behind the scenes through Publican Quality Meats, supplying Slagel Family Farm products and sharing butchery and service expertise. For more Streaming & TV Alerts coverage, see our Streaming & TV Alerts hub.
Why did the show's timing matter for operators?
Independent restaurants were still rebuilding after the pandemic, Madia writes, while absorbing rising costs and staff shortages. The Bear reminded audiences that restaurants are community gathering spots, employers, and places where life moments happen — not just somewhere to eat.
That renewed interest, he says, helped keep dining rooms full and brought a new tourism stream through the door. The impact stretches beyond restaurant walls into hotels, wineries, and small family farms, underscoring how many people it takes to put a dish on the table.
Madia credits creator Christopher Storer, the writers, cast, and crew, plus location managers Gilbert Morales and Maria Roxas. He also nods to Joseph Zucchero, the original owner of Mr. Beef, who helped inspire the story. According to the London Evening Standard, the comedy-drama has won 21 Primetime Emmy Awards and five Golden Globes, and Disney+ subscribers can binge the final eight episodes now.
How are Ayo Edebiri and co-stars still tied to the kitchen?
While the series concluded last month, interest in ayo the bear remains kitchen-forward. The Boston Globe reports that Emmy winners Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach cooked vegetarian borscht for an NYT Cooking video, trading notes on home cooking and lessons learned from the show.
Edebiri, from Dorchester, and Moss-Bachrach, who grew up in Amherst, joked about being "just a couple townies" from Massachusetts. Off-screen, Edebiri recently made her Broadway debut in Proof, with films Clarissa and Ally ahead; Moss-Bachrach has been on Broadway in Dog Day Afternoon and will reprise the Thing in Avengers: Doomsday.
Madia's bottom line is simple: the food may bring people to Chicago, but the people make them come back — and The Bear put both on a national stage.