800+ Hospitality & Food Service Jobs in Chicago, IL

Observed government pay sits much lower than many disclosed salary posts. BLS put Chicago's broad food preparation and serving group at $18.14 per hour in May 2025, while the metro-wide SOC 35 family showed a $35,220 median annual wage, a $37,730 mean, and a $48,110 90th-percentile wage in 2025. Directional posting signals are split: hourly postings center on about $16 to $18 / hour, local salary postings center on about $65k to $75k, and Revelio Public Labor Statistics puts mean offered pay on new Illinois hospitality openings at ~$39,020 in September 2026 (n=1,632).

Full September 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 663 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $34,528 at the 25th percentile, $38,480 at the median and $43,680 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of October 17, 2026

Senior roles | Entry level | Remote | Posted this week

Live from the Callings.ai index of over 13 million postings, refreshed hourly and re-checked here nightly. Roles that close are dropped at the next refresh.

Showing 30 of 250+ openings.

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What our analysts see this month

Balanced market | next 3-6 months

Chicago is still a real hiring market for hospitality work: leisure and hospitality employment in the metro was 498.4 thousand in August 2026, up 0.4434% year-over-year, and the Chicago Beige Book described slight employment growth with little worker turnover. But it is not an easy market. Metro unemployment was 5.2% in August 2026, up 15.5556% year-over-year, while Revelio Public Labor Statistics shows Illinois hospitality postings down 6.2% year-over-year and hospitality employment down 1.3% year-over-year in September 2026. The best read is steady opportunity for frontline, on-site roles, with noticeably tougher competition for manager-track and hotel-adjacent roles.

Best positioned: Applicants with open availability, recent food safety or inventory experience, and willingness to work on-site have the best odds because about 95% or more of local postings are on-site and the most requested skills include food safety and inventory management.

Main caution: The biggest trap is assuming Chicago's high-end posted salary bands reflect typical frontline pay; the broad local food preparation and serving group averaged $18.14 per hour, and the typical active posting stays open around 39 days.

From the September 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 842 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. Compass Group: 38 open roles
2. Tony’s Fresh Market, Inc.: 17 open roles
3. Sunrise Senior Living Management, LLC: 15 open roles
4. Aramark: 13 open roles
5. Maggiano's, Inc.: 13 open roles
6. StoryPoint Group: 13 open roles
7. : 12 open roles
8. Marriott International, Inc.: 12 open roles
9. Red Lobster, Inc.: 12 open roles
10. Pollakinnovative: 11 open roles

Where the openings are

• Chicago: 246
• Naperville: 26
• Aurora: 19
• Schaumburg: 19
• Evanston: 14
• Vernon Hills: 14
• Oak Lawn: 14
• Bolingbrook: 13

Work arrangement

on-site 747 (100%), hybrid 1 (0%)

Where the demand is

Opportunity is spread across a long tail, not one dominant employer. The local sample shows more than 1,700 postings across more than 450 companies, and hiring is fragmented across employers. Within postings, the heaviest activity sits in hospitality at about 30%, restaurants at about 20%, retail at about 15%, hospitals and health care at about 10%, and food & beverage at about 10%. That mix matters because it widens the practical target list. If you only chase independent full-service restaurants, you miss steady volume from chains, contract food service, hospitals, cafés, and hotel operators. Starbucks Corp. and Compass Group are among the most consistently active named employers, with more than 175 and more than 100 postings respectively over the last 90 days. The strongest near-term odds are in structured, on-site operations that can absorb entry and mid-level workers quickly. About 75% of postings are entry-level and about 20% are mid-level, while about 95% or more are on-site. For manager-track candidates, competition is tougher because the better-paying disclosed-salary roles are a smaller slice of the market than the frontline pool.

• Chain cafés and quick-service service teams (high): This is one of the clearest volume paths: Starbucks Corp. is a leading named employer, and postings repeatedly call for cash handling, beverage preparation, customer service, and cleaning.
• Contract and institutional food service (high): Compass Group is another major named employer, and hospitals and health care account for about 10% of category postings, pointing to cafeteria, facility, and patient-facing service work.
• Hotels and broader hospitality operations (moderate): Hospitality itself makes up about 30% of local category postings, and these roles increasingly reward guest-service strength plus comfort with digital systems and tech-enabled workflows.
• Independent restaurants and new openings (moderate): Restaurants account for about 20% of postings, and batch hiring does happen, as seen in Lou Malnati's 100-person St. Charles ramp, but opportunities are spread across many employers rather than concentrated in a few brands.

Where to focus: Start with structured on-site employers in cafés, restaurant groups, contract food service, and hotel operations, then branch into hospital-based food service if you need steadier schedules.

Roles worth searching next

• Retail customer service associate or shift lead: Retail accounts for about 15% of local category postings, and the same cash handling, customer service, cleaning, and inventory habits transfer well.
• Front desk coordinator or receptionist: Guest communication, schedule coordination, and comfort with digital systems all carry over from hospitality work, especially for candidates already using POS or property-management tools.
• Hospital patient services or guest services coordinator: Hospitals and health care represent about 10% of local category postings, and the overlap in sanitation, service standards, and customer-facing problem solving is real.
• Facilities or environmental services lead: Local postings repeatedly emphasize cleaning and sanitation, which makes this a reasonable next move for workers coming from housekeeping, back-of-house, or venue operations.

What postings ask for

• Food handler certification (table_stakes | immediate): It is the most commonly named certification in local postings, even though only about 5% explicitly list it, so it helps you clear basic screening fast. Who: Entry-level applicants, career switchers, and anyone targeting restaurants, cafés, or institutional kitchens.
• Food safety (table_stakes | immediate): Food safety shows up in about 20% of local skill mentions, making it a core signal that you can work without creating avoidable risk. Who: Anyone applying to kitchen, prep, catering, or supervisor roles.
• Cash handling (table_stakes | immediate): Cash handling is the single most-requested hard skill locally at about 25%, so it is one of the fastest ways to prove you are usable on day one. Who: Front-of-house candidates, baristas, bartenders, servers, hosts, and switchers from retail.
• Inventory management (differentiator | near-term): Inventory management appears in about 20% of local postings and is one of the clearest separators between pure hourly execution and trust-bearing shift or manager-track work. Who: Mid-career candidates and experienced hourly staff aiming for lead or manager roles.
• Customer service and service recovery (differentiator | immediate): Customer service shows up in about 15% of local hard-skill signals, and national hospitality guidance says soft skills like empathy, active listening, and adaptability are critical differentiators in 2026. Who: Everyone, especially applicants coming from non-hospitality customer-facing work.
• POS, property-management, and digital guest systems (differentiator | near-term): Technology literacy is now a key hospitality skill, including POS systems, property-management tools, contactless guest workflows, and AI-driven scheduling tools. Who: Hotel, front desk, café, and supervisor-track applicants.

Questions about this market

What do Hospitality, Food Service & Travel roles pay in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN?

Observed government pay sits much lower than many disclosed salary posts. BLS put Chicago's broad food preparation and serving group at $18.14 per hour in May 2025, while the metro-wide SOC 35 family showed a $35,220 median annual wage, a $37,730 mean, and a $48,110 90th-percentile wage in 2025. Directional posting signals are split: hourly postings center on about $16 to $18 / hour, local salary postings center on about $65k to $75k, and Revelio Public Labor Statistics puts mean offered pay on new Illinois hospitality openings at ~$39,020 in September 2026 (n=1,632). For many frontline roles, Chicago's wage floor is now close to the typical posted hourly range because the city minimum wage is $17.05 per hour and the tipped cash wage is $12.96. That makes entry access broader, but it does not turn the category into a high-income path unless you move into management, specialty kitchens, or hotel leadership.

Where is demand for Hospitality, Food Service & Travel roles in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN concentrated?

Opportunity is spread across a long tail, not one dominant employer. The local sample shows more than 1,700 postings across more than 450 companies, and hiring is fragmented across employers. Within postings, the heaviest activity sits in hospitality at about 30%, restaurants at about 20%, retail at about 15%, hospitals and health care at about 10%, and food & beverage at about 10%. That mix matters because it widens the practical target list. If you only chase independent full-service restaurants, you miss steady volume from chains, contract food service, hospitals, cafés, and hotel operators. Starbucks Corp. and Compass Group are among the most consistently active named employers, with more than 175 and more than 100 postings respectively over the last 90 days. The strongest near-term odds are in structured, on-site operations that can absorb entry and mid-level workers quickly. About 75% of postings are entry-level and about 20% are mid-level, while about 95% or more are on-site. For manager-track candidates, competition is tougher because the better-paying disclosed-salary roles are a smaller slice of the market than the frontline pool.

Which employers are hiring the most Hospitality, Food Service & Travel talent in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN?

Recent postings show the most activity from Starbucks Corp. (175 postings), Compass Group (100 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Hospitality, Food Service & Travel roles in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 4% are remote and 4% hybrid, with 95% on-site. Use the Remote filter above to see only remote openings.

How current are these listings?

Openings come from the Callings.ai live index of over 13 million jobs, refreshed hourly. This page searches postings from the last 30 days; run the search yourself to filter by anything else in plain language.

Browse Illinois openings by job title

• General Manager: 148 open roles statewide
• Senior Manager: 79 open roles statewide

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