CHICAGO — Two Chicago-area companies received large city contracts to provide meals to migrants in temporary shelters, and one is a newly created group owned by the family behind the Buona Beef chain.
Seventy-Seven Communities and 14 Parish were awarded up to $45 million and $57 million, respectively, in city contracts to deliver meals to the city’s 28 temporary shelters, according to city documents and a news release.
14 Parish, based in Hyde Park, is in charge of meals at shelters in the South Region, while Seventy-Seven Communities will provide meals to the North Region, officials said.
Seventy-Seven Communities is a suburban-based company created in October, according to state filings. It’s run by leaders at the popular and rapidly expanding Italian beef franchise Buona Beef as well as its sister company, Beyond Catering.
Seventy-Seven Communities’ executive director is listed as Joe Buonavolanto Jr., one of the sons of Buona Beef’s founders and an owner of Buona Beef, LLC, according to state filings. Mike Iovinelli, program director of Seventy-Seven Communities, is also listed as vice president of catering at Beyond Catering — whose parent company is Buona Beef.
The city’s press release did not mention Buona Beef or Beyond Catering. Officials said Seventy-Seven Communities had “decades” of experience in food service, even though records show the company has only existed for four months. It does not appear to have a website.
“Seventy-Seven Communities has been delivering quality meals around Chicagoland for decades and has experience creating specific menus for groups with complex needs, such as Chicago Public Schools students,” according to the city.
Ronnie Reese, a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office, acknowledged the connection between Seventy-Seven Communities and Buona Beef but said it wasn’t intentionally left out of the city’s announcement. The new company was created specifically for the migrant mission, Reese said.
Seventy-Seven Communities did not answer Block Club’s questions about its ties to Buona Beef and Beyond Catering, or explain why another entity was created for the bid.
In a statement, a Seventy-Seven Communities spokesperson said the company “represents a diverse team of nearly two dozen restaurants and caterers from across the city … with the expertise needed to provide nearly 200,000 meals a week for migrant families.”
The city issued a request for proposals in the fall for new companies to take over meal services for its more than two dozen migrant shelters at a lower cost. To date, the city has paid over $15 million to Open Kitchens for shelter meals.
Critics of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s response to housing migrants have been vocal for months about wanting more transparency on how city money is being spent.
City officials said Seventy-Seven Communities and 14 Parish were chosen because they proved able to deliver “high quality and culturally congruent” meals at a cost of $15-$17 per person per day, compared to the $21-$23 the city was previously paying per person per day.
Nearly 35,000 asylum seekers have come to Chicago since August 2022. About 14,300 are being housed in temporary shelters across the city, according to data from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
The search for new meal providers has come as migrants and volunteers who work closely with them have raised concerns about the quality of food at city-run shelters.
In June, migrants told Block Club they were given moldy food at times or not enough food. In December, migrants detailed inhumane conditions at one city shelter, which included being given spoiled food or food that was too spicy for residents to eat.
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