Restaurant Trade Show Next To Leave Chicago?

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Nov 19, 2009 6:20PM

Bad news often begets more bad news and the last thing we need to hear is the possibility of another convention contemplating pulling up stakes to move to another city. Hot on the heels of the plastics convention moving to Orlando comes word that the National Restaurant Association may be looking at hosting its 2012 convention in another city. The NRA is already committed to having its spring show at McCormick Place in 2010 and 2011, but the old refrain that cost is an issue may force the NRA to look elsewhere.

Losing the restaurant trade show would be a major blow economically. Although attendance at this year's convention dropped 24 percent, the convention still pumped in an estimated $86 million into the local economy. From a civic standpoint, the restaurant trade show is a perfect setting to showcase the depth and quality of Our Town's local restaurant scene, with convention attendees booking tables at restaurants weeks in advance. Left over or unused food from the restaurant trade show also routinely is donated to the Greater Chicago Food Depository. At a time when demand for assistance from the GCFD and other local food banks is on the rise, the loss of a large guaranteed donation of food could be hard to make up.