Chase Sapphire Awards $1 Million in Grants to Local Restaurants As Part of the Sapphire Supports Restaurants Contest

Twenty restaurants from across the United States have been selected to receive a $50,000 grant after a nationwide, community-driven contest

WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Chase Sapphire^®, in collaboration with restaurant discovery platform The Infatuation, today announced the 20 small business restaurants that will be receiving a $50,000 grant as part of the “Sapphire Supports Restaurants Contest.”

On July 19, Chase Sapphire launched the initiative inviting people across the country to share personal stories of their favorite local eateries and nominate them for a chance to win part of the million dollars, to help provide local small business owners with economic relief following the hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When you hear what these restaurants and the people behind them mean to their neighbors and customers, you realize they are more than small businesses—they are part of the heartbeat of the community,” said Marleta Ross, General Manager of Chase Sapphire. “We are excited to help these restaurants on their journey to rebuilding and seeing their continued success.”

Nearly 2,500 nominations were submitted from diners across the country sharing what their favorite local restaurant means to them. Submissions were reviewed by a panel of culinary industry insiders who considered a variety of factors including the restaurant's impact on their local community, innovation or creativity during the pandemic and the nominator's passion for the restaurant.

The 20 selected winners of the Sapphire Supports Restaurant content are:

• Casa Indigo (Chicago, IL) - Mer Mansuria
• Saucy Porka (Chicago, IL) – John Keebler and Amy Le
• TaKorea Cocina (Chicago, IL) – Robert Magiet
• Magic City Hoagies (Minot, ND) – Christine Staley
• Munch (Solon, OH) – Scott and Jamie Hersch
• Atoboy (New York, NY) – Junghyun and Ellia Park
• Kindred (New York, NY) – Moshe Schulman
• Caracas Arepa Bar (Brooklyn, NY) - Maribel Araujo and Gato Barrios
• Montclair Diner (Montclair, NJ) – Eliot Mosby
• Verilli’s Bakery (Morristown, NJ) – Kristi Dimogerodakis
• Choplins (Cornelius, NC) - Wes Choplin
• Lilo's Streetfood and Bar (Lake Worth, FL) - Joseph Lipovich
• Hugs Café (McKinney, TX) – Ruth Thompson
• The Coffee Barrel and Uncommon Table (Beeville, TX) – Dhaval Shantilal Patel
• El Pipila (San Francisco, CA) – Guadalupe Guerreo
• Maison Café & Market (Dana Point, CA) – Danielle Kuhn
• South LA Café (Los Angeles, CA) – Joseph and Celia Ward-Wallace
• All Day Baby (Los Angeles, CA) - Lien Ta and Jonathan Whitener
• Beau Thai (Washington, DC) – Ralph Brabham
• Feast (Tucson, AZ) – Douglas Levy

To learn more about the Sapphire Supports Restaurants Contest and the stories behind the winning restaurants, please visit https://www.sapphiresupportsrestaurants.com/. For more ways to find and support the restaurants in your city, visit The Infatuation www.theinfatuation.com.

About Chase

Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), a leading financial services firm based in the United States with assets of $3.8 trillion and operations worldwide. Chase serves more than 60 million American households with a broad range of financial services, including personal banking, credit cards, mortgages, auto financing, investment advice, small business loans and payment processing. Customers can choose how and where they want to bank: More than 4,700 branches in 48 states and the District of Columbia, 16,000 ATMs, mobile, online and by phone. For more information, go to chase.com.