Forty independent restaurants across the country have won $1 million as the first class to be honored with Innovator Awards by the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) and Chase.
The program offers $25,000 grants to restaurants across the country that are selected for business models that promote sustainability and environmental innovation, as well as workforce well-being and community impact.
The move comes at a time when many in the industry are questioning whether to call controversial restaurateurs like Rene Redzepi “innovators.”
The IRC and Chase program, meanwhile, seeks to spotlight operators that are building a brighter future for independent restaurants, said Erika Polmar, IRC executive director.
“From advancing mental health care and equitable labor models to pioneering zero-waste operations and regenerative sourcing, these leaders are developing bold solutions that push the industry forward,” Polmar added, in a statement. “With support from Chase, we’re proud to spotlight the groundbreaking work happening in restaurants nationwide—work that can be adopted, adapted and scaled across the country.”
Among the recipients are concepts like Lita in Aberdeen Township, New Jersey, an Iberian restaurant by Neilly Robinson and Chef David Viana.
At Lita, staff members rotate between front- and back-of-house roles, share equal base pay and pool tips across the team. All non-management team members start at the same base salary and split tips evenly, which prioritizes equity and eliminates the industry’s “outdated FOH vs. BOH hierarchy,” the restaurant’s website says.
The $25,000 grant will be used to support training and documentation to share with other operators that might want to replicate the model, the IRC said.
Other Innovation Award recipients include:
- Immigrant Food in Washington, D.C., a restaurant and nonprofit platform that seeks to translate food into civic engagement through menu design, partnerships and programming that celebrates immigrant cultures and advances immigrant rights.
- Miss Kim in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is part of the Zingerman’s Family of Businesses. The Korean restaurant is grounded in people-first values, like fair wages, profit sharing, open-book finance and staff education and scholarships.
- Güero in Portland, Oregon, a tortas concept that the IRC described as a year-round community hub offering bilingual education, chef incubators, ecological programming and no-cost community access to space and resources, “positioning restaurants as durable civic infrastructure,” the coalition said.
- Magpie in Sacramento, California, a farm-driven concept that embeds sustainability in everyday operations, integrating preservation, waste reduction and whole-animal cooking. The restaurant, founded by Janel Inouye and Ed Roehr, is celebrating its 21st anniversary.
To see the full list, go to independentrestaurantcoalition.com.
The Innovator Awards are part of a multi-year partnership with the IRC and Chase, which includes a $3 million IRC and Chase Disaster Relief Fund. To date, the programs have awarded $4 million in grants to independent restaurants and bars, with an additional $2 million pledged for disaster relief in 2026.
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