Bears, Levy Restaurants introduce new menu items at Soldier Field
Story by Gabby Hajduk, photos by Bailey Black
The Bears on Thursday introduced several new menu items that will be available at Soldier Field this season via a tasting event for local media and influencers Thursday, just days before the team's season opener against the Vikings Monday night.
Last year, the Bears launched a multi-year partnership with Levy Restaurants — the Chicago-based hospitality leader — who transformed the concessions and hospitality experiences at Soldier Field. Now in Year 2 of the partnership, both organizations were eager to take another jump this season and did so by focusing on fan feedback and innovative ideas.
"We are incredibly excited," Karen Murphy, Bears executive vice president of stadium development & chief operating officer said. "[Levy is] the acclaimed Chicago hospitality leader. We've been working tirelessly in the offseason to continue to transform the game experience for our fans. One thing we appreciate with Levy is they're always cutting edge on their culinary concepts, and they're incredibly transformative. They're always relentlessly looking at better ways to deliver stadium dining.
"We know when we bring our fans back to the stadium on Monday night cheering for us that we will have innovative, new products and world-class hospitality for them."
Also in attendance from the Bears' leadership team were senior vice president of fan/guest experience and stadium operations Lee Twarling, senior vice president of strategy & global affairs and chief of staff Tanya Dreesen and vice president of event strategy and hospitality Emily Rooney.
Murphy's opening remarks were followed by Executive Chef for Soldier Field Ryan Craig, who gave those in attendance a quick overview of Levy's vision for the 2025 concessions updates.
"We're really excited to enter year two of this partnership with the Chicago Bears," Craig said. "We really did take a lot of fan feedback and listened to what the fans were looking for in what we provided in year one and how we could continue to improve on that as we moved into year two. I think we really did it with this showcase. Most importantly, Levy is here in Chicago, homegrown in Chicago, so we really wanted a menu that spoke to Chicago."
Having the menu speak to Chicago was a critical task for Craig, a Chicago native who understands how ingrained food and beverage are in the city's culture. Craig leaned into iconic spots and people to accomplish his goal, including former Bears defensive end Israel Idonije.
Now an owner of multiple Chicago restaurants, Idonije has kept his love of the Bears and the city that helped change his life at the forefront of his post-NFL endeavors.
"He is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet," Craig said. "He cares about people. He loves hospitality. I think he might even be better at hospitality than he was at football, and he was a pretty darn good Bear."
At last year's tasting event, Idonije attended as an alumni ambassador, but this year, two of his dishes — a brisket mac and cheese and chicken sandwich — were featured in the showcase.
"This year, for us to be a part of the showcase with our sandwich and our mac and cheese, it's full circle," Idonije said. "From playing for the Bears for all those years to now being able to serve Bears fans as they watch the games this 2025 season, it's really special.
"Hospitality for me has been just a really new world. It's a new game, per se. So I'm learning to be able to work with chefs like Ryan and teams like Levy. It's like an acceleration in the education of how to do things right, how to execute the pursuit of excellence in this new sector, in this new game. I'm just so thankful and grateful and I'm honored to be a part of what we're doing here at Soldier Field this year."
Another Chicago staple featured this year is Mr. Beef — a longstanding Italian beef joint is the inspiration and storefront for the Emmy-award winning TV show "The Bear." Mr. Beef also served as the backdrop of the Bears' 2023 schedule release video, which also took home an Emmy.
Fans can now enjoy Mr. Beef's iconic sandwich while watching Bears games.
Barstool Sports' Pardon My Take — a comedic sports podcast hosted by Bears fan Dan "Big Cat" Katz and PFT Commenter — helped bring the "Pardon My Cheesesteak" to Soldier Field.
With the Bears celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1985 season this year, creating a dish alongside former fullback and Super Bowl champion Matt Suhey was a perfect fit.
Featuring Suhey Peppers, a hot pepper recipe perfected by Matt's mother, Ginger, in the 1970s, Craig helped create a series of craft sausages.
Connie's Pizza — a local staple and partner of the Bears — will feature their beef and sausage Sicilian style pizza topped with giardiniera.
One of Levy's specialty creations for 2025 is brisket nachos, which will be served in a football-shaped dish.
While it's extremely difficult for Craig to pick a favorite dish from the new selections, one project that was near and dear to his heart was creating a Kids Club menu. As a father of a six-year-old boy, Craig worked with several partners to create a pair of kids meal boxes, pigs in a blanket, Molly's Mac and Cheese and Bear cookies.
"I can't wait for my son to come to a game and try all these things," Craig shared. "It's super easy as a dad to start coming up with all these kids items because you know what kids love, you know what kids want. So, it was really easy to be like, 'all right, franks in a blanket. Let's call Vienna Beef. Let's do Molly's Mac and Cheese. Let's get with Jewel-Osco. Let's do a kids box.'
"It was easy and very organic to come up with some great experiences for kids, especially when you're a dad and you just you can really feel it. I can't wait for my son to come get a Bear cookie and have some mac and cheese."
The creation of Molly's Mac and Cheese, specifically, reflects the Bears' focus on implementing fan ideas and feedback at Soldier Field. The dish was inspired by a chance meeting between second-generation Season Ticket Holder Kevin McDonough and Bears President & CEO Kevin Warren at a Chicago steakhouse. While talking with Warren about the gameday fan experience at Soldier Field, McDonough told Warren about his 6-year-old daughter Molly's desire to always have mac and cheese available at concession stands at sporting events. From there, Molly's Mac and Cheese was born.
Through 14 months of the Bears' partnership with Levy, the club is incredibly pleased with the hospitality transformation at Soldier Field. While both organizations considered last year's updates a success, they knew Year 2 needed to be better.
Both the Bears and Levy feel as though they accomplished that goal.
"Levy's commitment to our fanbase and their commitment to what they're trying to provide in a very authentic Chicago way is so rewarding," Twarling said. "We want our fans to feel that there is real intentional time and effort put into this experience, and specifically into what we're trying to provide for them. So to have someone like Chef Ryan, who really puts his heart and soul into everything he creates, all his concepts, is, again, a dream come true from us. We want fans to recognize, too, that we are listening, and we also recognize that from the children who come to the folks who have been coming for 50, 60 years, we want something for all to experience."
