Utility tries to bring a new spin on hospitality industry shows, with a focus on independent restaurants

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This year, there’s a new restaurant show in town, The Utility Show, a “2-day celebration of everything hospitality.”

Workers from Chicago’s Novel Pizza prepare to serve attendees at a The Utility Show, May 20, 2024, held on North Bell Avenue in Chicago. Thousands of restaurant owners, big-box franchisees and hospitality industry staffers head to Chicago each May to participate in the National Restaurant Association Show at McCormick Place.

Attendees in line for pizza at a restaurant show called The Utility Show, in Chicago on May 20, 2024. Both days also offered thoughtfully curated conversations on issues that industry folks are talking about. During a May 19 panel titled “Advocating for an Equitable and Sustainable Industry,” curated by the Independent Restaurant Coalition, moderator Ashok Selvam of Eater Chicago covered hot topics such as service fees, the farm bill and child care.

Creating community is particularly important in tough times, and while the 2024 NRA Show prominently featured robots and computerized systems that can replace workers, Utility emphasized the human side. “Automation is getting rid of humans,” said Erika Polmar, executive director of the IRC, “but humans are the reason we do things.”

 

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