# New Restaurant Leads – Chicago Restaurants About to Open (`leadsignal-data/chicago-new-restaurant-openings`) Actor

Chicago restaurants, cafes, groceries and bakeries about to open: pre-opening license inspections from official city food inspection data, with name, address, facility type, risk level and Pass/Fail result. Only new leads each run.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/leadsignal-data/chicago-new-restaurant-openings.md
- **Developed by:** [Alex](https://apify.com/leadsignal-data) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$20.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## New Restaurant Leads: Chicago Restaurants About to Open

**Find Chicago restaurants, cafes, groceries and bakeries before they open. Each one has just had its pre-opening license inspection. About 2¢ a lead.**

Before a Chicago food business can open, the **Chicago Department of Public Health** inspects the site for its new license. The Actor pulls those **license inspections** (about **200 a month**, roughly **85 of them restaurants**). Routine canvass, complaint and food-poisoning inspections are excluded. Each lead has the business name, street address, ZIP, facility type, risk level, inspection date and result (Pass, Pass w/ Conditions, Fail, Not Ready). Each license is returned once, so a failed first visit and its re-inspection don't count as two leads.

👉 **Try it free:** new Apify accounts get **$5 of free platform credit every month**, enough for hundreds of leads.

### Real sample leads (pulled October 2026)

| Business | Type | Address | ZIP | Result | Inspected |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuerza Vital | Restaurant | 8542 S Pulaski Rd | 60652 | Pass | 2026-10-09 |
| La Quinta Inn and Suites Chicago Downtown | Restaurant | 1 S Franklin St | 60606 | Pass | 2026-10-08 |
| Cilantro Taco Grill - Loop | Restaurant | 180 N Wells St | 60606 | Pass | 2026-10-08 |
| A Ma Maniere | Restaurant | 1144 W Washington Blvd | 60607 | Fail | 2026-10-08 |
| Insomnia Cookies | Restaurant | 225 S Canal St | 60606 | Pass | 2026-10-08 |

**ROI:** 1,000 about-to-open Chicago food businesses cost $20. One POS install, linen contract or distributor account pays for that many times over.

### Who uses it

POS & payments resellers · food & beverage distributors · restaurant equipment, linen, grease & pest control · commercial insurance · staffing & payroll · delivery platforms, reservation & restaurant SaaS · local marketing, signage and web agencies.

### Filters

- **Facility types**: `Restaurant` (default), `Grocery Store`, `Bakery`, `Mobile Food Preparer`, `Catering`, `Tavern`. Only food-service facilities are returned; daycares, schools, care homes and other non-food sites are always excluded
- **Results**: `Pass`, `Pass w/ Conditions`, `Fail`, `Not Ready`. Pass usually means the place opens within days. A Fail or Not Ready means it's still in build-out, which is the best time to sell equipment and services.
- **Business name keywords** (`Pizza`, `Taco`, `Cafe`)
- **ZIP codes**
- **Include license re-inspections** (on by default)
- Inspection date range

### Set it up as a daily lead feed

1. Set your filters (or leave them empty for everything).
2. Keep **Only new since last run** on. Each run returns only leads you haven't seen.
3. Click **Schedule → Daily**, then connect **Google Sheets, HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack, Zapier or Make** so fresh leads land in your tools automatically.

Runs with nothing new cost almost nothing, because you only pay for the leads you get.

### Input

```json
{"facilityTypes": ["Restaurant"], "results": ["Pass", "Pass w/ Conditions"], "zips": ["60614", "60622", "60647"], "dateFrom": "30 days", "onlyNew": true}
```

### Output fields

`licenseNumber, inspectionId, businessName, akaName, facilityType, riskLevel, address, city, state, zip, inspectionType, result, inspectionDate, latitude, longitude, source`. Export as CSV, Excel or JSON, or pull it through the API.

### Pricing

Pay per result: **$0.02 per lead** ($20 per 1,000). No subscription.

### FAQ

**Where does the data come from?** The "Food Inspections" dataset on data.cityofchicago.org, published by the City of Chicago and updated daily.
**Why license inspections?** The city inspects every new food license (new business, new location or new owner) before the license is issued. That makes these inspections the earliest public signal that a restaurant is about to open.
**Does it include phone numbers or emails?** The source doesn't publish them. Enrich with your usual tool.
**How do I avoid duplicates?** Keep "Only new since last run" on, and use a different dedupe store name for each separate feed.

**Need another city?** Request it in the Issues tab. LeadSignal adds new feeds regularly.

***

*Last updated: October 14, 2026 · Built by **LeadSignal**: public-record lead feeds for B2B sales. Not affiliated with the City of Chicago or the Chicago Department of Public Health.*

# Actor input Schema

## `facilityTypes` (type: `array`):

Exact facility type, e.g. Restaurant, Grocery Store, Bakery, Mobile Food Preparer, Catering. Empty = all food-service types (non-food facilities such as daycares are always excluded).

## `results` (type: `array`):

Pass, Pass w/ Conditions, Fail, Not Ready. Empty = all (a Fail or Not Ready still means the place is about to open).

## `nameKeywords` (type: `array`):

Match the business name, e.g. Pizza, Taco, Cafe, Sushi.

## `zips` (type: `array`):

e.g. 60614, 60622.

## `includeReinspections` (type: `boolean`):

Also return follow-up license inspections (after a failed first visit). Each license is still returned only once.

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD or relative like '30 days'.

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD

## `onlyNew` (type: `boolean`):

Skip leads already returned by previous runs (ideal for scheduled daily feeds).

## `dedupeStoreName` (type: `string`):

Named key-value store used to remember seen leads. Use different names for different feeds.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum leads to return in this run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "facilityTypes": [
    "Restaurant"
  ],
  "includeReinspections": true,
  "dateFrom": "30 days",
  "onlyNew": true,
  "dedupeStoreName": "chicago-new-restaurant-openings-seen",
  "maxItems": 1000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

All leads/records returned by this run.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "facilityTypes": [
        "Restaurant"
    ],
    "dateFrom": "30 days"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("leadsignal-data/chicago-new-restaurant-openings").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "facilityTypes": ["Restaurant"],
    "dateFrom": "30 days",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("leadsignal-data/chicago-new-restaurant-openings").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "facilityTypes": [
    "Restaurant"
  ],
  "dateFrom": "30 days"
}' |
apify call leadsignal-data/chicago-new-restaurant-openings --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,leadsignal-data/chicago-new-restaurant-openings"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/bklgrM0WttcwSwKYG/builds/im0EcmjKaI2VfQ8Ar/openapi.json