Iron Chef Stephanie Izard's Four Chicago Restaurants To Lay Off Hundreds

Nearly 300 employees at Stephanie Izard’s Chicago restaurants are subject to mass layoffs because of COVID-19.

Izard, a high-profile chef, is known for her Iron Chef title after winning Iron Chef Gauntlet's first season on the Food Network. She was also the first female victor of Top Chef on Bravo in 2008, according to her bio.

State Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity reports show that staff at Izard's Little Goat Diner, Girl & The Goat, Duck Duck Goat, and Cabra Cevicheria are subject to permanent, coronavirus-related layoffs.

The latest WARN report, under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, shows that 278 workers will be affected at the four restaurants: 96 at Little Goat, 85 at Cabra, 55 at Girl & the Goat and 42 at Duck Duck Goat.

That’s part of 71 layoff events and nearly 18,000 workers affected statewide, according to the monthly report published July 31. Although some employers credited bad market conditions, consolidation and other causes, nearly 86% directly credited COVID-19 for mass layoffs and closures.

Layoffs at the four restaurants are scheduled to start September 20, according to the WARN filings.

Photo: Getty Images