Private chef in Chicago
Tell us the date, the guests and what you have in mind. We read it, line up 399 Chicago chefs against it and come back with menus built for your table — with the price, the ingredients and the cleanup written down before anything is booked.
How much does a private chef cost in Chicago?
For 6 people in Chicago, a private chef costs less than dinner out.
AVERAGE PRICE · 6 GUESTS
1,122 USD
187 USD per guesteverything included
What's included
- Chef comes to you
- All ingredients sourced and bought
- Full meal cooked in your kitchen
- Spotless kitchen afterwards
HERE'S THE REAL BREAKDOWN
- 2 guests220USD / guest = 440 USD total
- 4 guests187USD / guest = 748 USD total
- 6 guests187USD / guest = 1,122 USD total
- 8 guests166USD / guest = 1,328 USD total
- 10 guests166USD / guest = 1,660 USD total
- 13+ guests157USD / guest = 2,041 USD total
How it works
Submit your request
Tell us the perfect meal for your celebration, the date, and your budget. No commitment.
Chat with chefs
Talk with private chefs until you find the right one, and get many proposals.
Craft your menu
Personalize everything from the number of courses to the ingredients in your meals.
Book your chef
Once you are happy with your choice, complete your booking and make your payment.
Live the experience
Welcome your chef, and let them do the rest! Enjoy the company or your guests and relax.
Find the right chef for you
Start meeting private chefs who can make your dream meal come true.
399 Private chefs in Chicago
In a few steps, you'll find the perfect home chef in Chicago, IL.
Over 47,700 guests have enjoyed the private chef experience in Chicago
4.6 Chef
Guests in Chicago have scored their private chef experience with a 4.6.
4.79 Food quality
Our private chef's menus in Chicago have gained a solid 4.79.
4.74 Presentation
More than tasty, the presentation of our chefs' dishes is gorgeous, earning a score of 4.74 in Chicago.
4.79 Cleanups
The cleanup of the kitchen and dining area in Chicago has been scored with a 4.79 on average.
Hire a personal chef in Chicago
You want the table full and the evening yours — not an hour in the kitchen while everyone else is in the other room. Tell us what you have in mind for your night in Chicago and we shape it into a service: a menu written around your guests, chefs who fit the occasion, and one clear set of conditions instead of a thread of messages.
Chicago has been asking us for chefs at home since 2017, and 47,797 requests later we know what the city books: birthdays, a quiet dinner for two, a table full of friends. Rated 4.77 across 406 reviews in Chicago, with 944 services actually cooked in the city.
You pick the chef and the menu. From there we coordinate the date, the access to your kitchen and the timings with the chef, and we stay responsible for the service until the last plate is cleared. Booking a chef is only the beginning.
Frequently asked questions
Below, you can find the most common questions about private chefs in Chicago.
The menu design, the grocery shopping, the cooking in your kitchen, the service at the table and the cleanup of the cooking space afterwards. All of it is written into the agreed scope before you book, including the total price, so there is no line item discovered on the night.
Tableware and glassware are not included. Drinks are not included by default, though they can be added as an extra on the menu proposal. Tipping is up to you.
It depends on the size of the table, and the starting points in Chicago look like this: from 157 USD per person for groups of 13 or more, 166 USD for 7 to 12, 187 USD for 3 to 6, and 220 USD for two. The per-person figure drops as the table grows.
Treat those as a starting point, not a quote. Season, date, menu complexity and last-minute bookings all move the number.
Your actual total — menu, ingredients, the chef's time, serving and cleanup — is confirmed in writing before you book, so what you approve is what you pay.
You start by telling us what you have in mind: the date, how many people, what you like, what nobody can eat, and what your kitchen has. That request is what we work from — you do not repeat it to anyone.
We read it and come back with menus written for your table, each from a chef who fits the occasion, with their profile, reviews and photos of their dishes. You can ask for changes to any of them before deciding.
You choose the chef and the menu, and the booking is closed online with the total price and the conditions in writing. From there we coordinate the timings and the kitchen access with the chef, and we stay responsible for the service on the day.
Yes — anniversaries are behind close to one Chicago booking in ten, and close to half of all bookings here are for one or two people.
Say in the request that it is an anniversary and the chefs will build around it rather than scale down a party menu: courses paced for a long evening, a dessert that works as the moment, and wine pairings if you want them. Italian is what Chicago orders more than anywhere else — close to a quarter of all bookings here — but French and Mediterranean menus are just as available.
There are 399 chefs available in Chicago right now. Fill out the form and the ones free on your date will send you menu proposals to compare.
There is no set limit. In Chicago close to half our bookings are for one or two people and the average table is five, so a small dinner is the common case — but better than a quarter of tables here are seven guests or more and those are handled the same way.
Past about a dozen the chef brings an assistant or a second chef and the menu moves towards courses that reach the whole table at once. Tell us the headcount in your request and the proposals will already account for it.
Yes, a private chef always prepares the menu at the guest's house, which is the cornerstone of the experience. However, depending on the complexity or equipment demands of the menu, the home chef in Chicago may prepare a mise en place before going to the client's home.
You absolutely should! At every table, there is always someone who loves food and wants to spend time with the chef, learn some cooking tricks, and even hear insider tips from the chefs themselves while they prepare your food.
Fresh ingredients are a priority of professional cooking. Every one of our personal chefs in Chicago aims to bring the same service standards as a restaurant to your home. After customizing your menu, the chef purchases what they need to make it come to life on the scheduled date.
By default, drinks do not count as part of your booking. However, you can talk with your private chef and fit the cost as an "extra" on the menu proposals they create for your event.
You are free to decide the tip appropriate for your personal chef and their service. But if you would like to know, based on the tips of 47,797 guests in Chicago, IL, tips are 14.72% of the total bill, on average.
Your own menu
Who could be better to guide you in creating the perfect menu for your special occasion than your private chef? Our home chefs in Chicago can help you craft it from cost to ingredients and restrictions!
Key information about personal chefs in Chicago
Learn more about our personal chefs in Chicago and their services.
With an average age of 45, our private chefs in Chicago, IL, offer extensive culinary knowledge.
45% of our chefs are women
Just 4 hours from request to menu
Our first private chef service in Chicago was in 2017-03-18.
19.4% of our private chef services in Chicago include kids.
A single client has booked the same home chef in Chicago 21 times.
50% increase in the number of private chef bookings in Chicago in the last year
Our personal chefs can communicate with you in up to 4 languages
More than 59.2% of guests hire a private chef in Chicago more than once
On average, multiple services hire a chef for 3 days.
We uploaded over 3,249 pictures of our Chicago personal chef experience.
On average, it takes 2 days from requesting to booking a personal chef.
How much does a personal chef cost in Chicago, IL?
The number of guests participating in the private chef experience in Chicago determines the specifics.
Prices range from 157 USD to 220 USD per person.
For 13 people or more: 157 USD. For 7 to 12 people: 166 USD. For 3 to 6 people: 187 USD. For 2 people: 220 USD.
Remember, every destination is different, and prices fluctuate with the seasons. The following chart shows the typical prices our private chefs in Chicago charge each month.
How many private chef services are booked in Chicago each month?
Private chef reservations may vary seasonally depending on the destination. To view monthly fluctuations of personal chefs in Chicago, Illinois, check this table.
Hiring a private chef in Chicago is ideal at any time, but prices can change due to demand. If you're looking for a private chef for a night in Chicago, we recommend you book early to secure your reservation. Rent a chef for your home in Chicago, IL now!
How many personal chefs sign up in Chicago each month?
We've been in the private chef scene in Chicago for many years and have gained the trust of many local chefs who have and continue to join us every month.
To bring the best experience to your home in Chicago, IL, we add 3 new personal chefs each month as ambassadors. Our team reviews and classifies their profiles daily to ensure you can always find new and exciting chefs.
What is the most frequent type of food booked in Chicago?
What Chicago actually books, in order: Chef's special, Italian, French, Mediterranean and Japanese, with Latin American and seafood close behind.
The single most requested is Chef's special. Tell us what the table likes and what it cannot eat, and the menus come back built around that.
Allergies, a vegan table, a menu that has to work for kids and adults at once: those go into the request and into the proposals, not into a conversation you have to chase afterwards. Tell us what you have in mind and we will come back with menus that already account for it.
Bring a private chef to your home in Chicago
A birthday where you are not the one plating. A dinner for two that does not end with the kitchen to clean. A table of friends that stays at the table. Those are the three things Chicago books most, and they all start the same way: you tell us the date, the guests and what you have in mind.
From that we structure the service — what gets cooked, what is bought, what time the chef arrives, what the total costs, who cleans up. It is agreed in writing before you book, so nothing about the evening is being guessed at while your guests are on their way.
Dietary restrictions, a vegan menu, allergies at the table: they go into the request, not into a conversation you have to remember to have. The chef shops, cooks and serves in your kitchen, and leaves it as it was found.
Chicago's best private chefs in your kitchen
There are 399 chefs cooking with us in Chicago, and you are not meant to read through all of them. We look at what you asked for — the occasion, the number of guests, the restrictions, the budget — and put in front of you chefs who fit that, with the reason each one fits and menus written for your date.
What holds it up is the record: 4.77 out of 5 across 406 rated reviews in Chicago, from 944 services actually cooked in the city. Chef's special and Italian are what the city books most, then French, Mediterranean and Japanese.
You choose from that shortlist. We keep the conditions, the menu and any change in one place, so the version you agreed to is the version that arrives.
Your house, the city's best restaurant
Chicago eats well and knows it. But a restaurant gives you a table for two hours and a bill at the end; at home the evening runs on your clock, the conversation does not stop for the next seating, and the kitchen is someone else's problem.
The average table we cook for in Chicago is five people. Small enough that the chef cooks for your table and not for a room, big enough that doing it yourself means missing your own party.
We handle the payment and the conditions inside one structured process, and we are still there afterwards if something needs sorting out. That is the part a listing cannot do: a profile helps you find a chef, it does not run the service.
Hear from our personal chefs in Chicago
Find what each of our private chefs brings to the table and what sets them apart. Enjoy the culinary skills of a talented chef right in your Chicago home! Let them approach your event and ideal meal with their particular taste and personalize every detail you want.
