Scorecard · Chicago, IL
Takeaway pizza shop
42/100
How much does it cost to open a pizza shop in Chicago? $95,000–$185,000 in Chicago, IL, on the figures below.
- Profit
- B
- Chicago takeaway averages a $27 ticket. Food cost sits near 26%, but delivery platforms take 15–30% of every order that comes through them.
- Difficulty
- D
- A Chicago retail food establishment licence, ventilation permit, food sanitation manager, and a plan review that adds 3–6 months before you can open.
- Capital
- D$95,000–$185,000
- A deck or conveyor oven $18,000–$45,000, hood and fire suppression $25,000–$55,000, walk-in and prep line $20,000–$40,000, plus $18,000 of deposit and permits.
Break-even
- The number that has to be true
- 78 tickets a day at $27
- Fixed costs a month
- $22,600
- The assumption
- Under half of orders arrive through a delivery platform.
Opening for less
All three together take $145,000 off: $185,000 becomes $40,000.
Open inside a shared commercial kitchen as delivery-only for year one
−$80,000
Costs you: No counter trade, and the platforms own your customer
Take a former restaurant with hood and suppression in place
−$45,000
Costs you: Their layout, their wiring, and possibly their pest history
Run a conveyor oven and a six-item menu instead of a deck oven and twenty
−$20,000
Costs you: You give up the crust that would let you charge $4 more
How you’d do it
What you need
- Chicago retail food establishment licence and a certified food sanitation manager
- Hood, fire suppression and a ventilation permit signed off
- $22,600 a month covered for six months
- A pick-up-first offer, or the platforms take the margin
First 3 moves
- 1Count pizza shops inside a 1 mile radius and read their two-star reviews for the gap.
- 2Model the same month with 30% and with 70% platform orders and compare the take-home.
- 3Ask two brokers for former restaurant spaces with the hood still in place.
The hardest part
Delivery economics. Volume through a platform can grow while the bank balance shrinks.
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