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Chireal Jordan spent the early part of his career as the only Black general manager you could find anywhere on Chicago’s north side. And as you’d imagine, that experience shaped everything he would go on to build.

And that thing he’d go on to build (despite not seeing anyone who looked like him to provide the blueprint) would be Machine Hospitality Group, which Jordan co-founded with Brian Galati in 2012. Together, they’ve spent over a decade carving out a distinct identity in a city with no shortage of places to eat and drink and their portfolio spans Headquarters Beercade and Machine Cocktail Bar in River North, and Dearly Beloved, a cocktail restaurant in the Near North neighborhood where the drinks are, by Jordan’s own description, the star of the show. And if that weren’t enough to keep them both busy, a fourth location in Fulton Market opens this August.

“The original vision that we had was to create places that not only would we be proud to own, but excited to frequent,” Jordan says.

Before it was Machine Hospitality Group, however, it was Capacity Bar Group, a name that gave way as the company grew into something bigger and more defined. The word machine is intentional, chosen to reflect how Jordan and Galati operate, two people with different instincts functioning as one.

Getting there meant learning an industry that wasn’t exactly… welcoming, to say the least. Jordan came up through large bar and nightclub groups, thrown into the deep end with little time to find his footing, and the most important education he got had nothing to do with drinks or service.

“I could not handle making someone else rich when I felt that I knew more than my predecessors,” he says. “The risk was much easier to accept than to keep dancing under that current ceiling.”

What nobody tells you when you’re coming up is how local this industry really is, and how much of your success depends on relationships. “It literally stems from neighborhood, to ward, to Alderman. No two neighborhoods operate the same so you have to learn how to play nice before accidentally dismantling opportunities.”

Jordan and Galati made the leap anyway, and the first thing ownership taught them was humility. “Once becoming an owner, you quickly realize that prestige and glitz is buried beneath submitting your first payroll, paying rent and learning about all of the hidden taxes and fees. That keeps you grounded. That keeps you in the fight.”

“I don’t think we’ve ever had a day where we didn’t argue about something,” Jordan says of his partnership with Galati. Fourteen years in, he seems to find that more useful than frustrating. “We always reach the same finality, however 99% of the time we offer differing paths. Embracing our differences is what makes us stronger. I have always believed in discipline, accountability and laughter are the tools that I hold most sacred and which have provided the best results.”

Whatever they disagree on (and by Jordan’s account that list is long) the vision for what kind of spaces they build has never been one of them. “I don’t create Black spots or white spots or girls night out spaces. However, I want all of the above to feel comfortable in our spaces, together.”

Jordan has been in this industry long enough to watch it change in ways he couldn’t have predicted when he was starting out. He has lived every stage of it. Twenty years ago he was that lone Black GM on Chicago’s north side. The city looks different now. 

“The last 8 years, I’m finding more and more Black ownership throughout the entire city opposed to just pockets on the south side,” he says. “It is fantastic to see and more importantly, to be a part of. People who are uninitiated have no clue how important representation is. I’ve been in this industry 25 years and every single night that I’m working I meet at least one person who shares a kind sentiment with me. I always feel the same: sad that it’s taken us this long to finally acquire our own places mixed with honor just to have the ability to share my passions with the city.”

A fourth location opens in Fulton Market this August, and Jordan is already thinking about what comes after that. Machine Hospitality Group had national ambitions before the pandemic reset those plans, and those ambitions haven’t gone away. 

But even with expansion on his mind, his advice hasn’t changed regardless of how far the company has come. “Chicago is one of the most difficult cities in the country to own a hospitality business. This city is not pro-restaurant so if you have a real desire to do this, do it with your heart because there are no easy days, no weekends. But you can do this and you’re never alone.”

The post “Do It With Your Heart”: How Chireal Jordan Built A Hospitality Empire In One Of America’s Hardest Restaurant Cities appeared first on Essence.