The Manifesto
We build culturally important hospitality brands.
Service Theory exists on one belief: hospitality is the product — not the food, not the drinks, but the way a room makes you feel. Everything we build is engineered around that feeling.
The Founders
The people behind
Service Theory.
Service Theory was built from inside the industry — careers spent across some of Chicago’s highest volume and most recognized restaurant operations, learning every layer of hospitality from service standards and team culture to financial operations and guest experience.
It was created from a shared belief that modern hospitality has become too transactional and predictable.
The goal is a collection of concepts that feel timeless, emotionally engaging, and culturally relevant. Spaces where branding, music, lighting, food, beverage, and service all work together to create something people obsess over and return to.
Each concept feels distinct. The DNA is shared.
Tony Teichman
Co-Founder
Gordon Hardin
Co-Founder
Our Philosophy
Hospitality is the product.
Everything else serves it.
Built from inside the room. Not the boardroom.
Years across Chicago's highest-volume, most-watched operations taught us every layer of the craft — from the floor to the P&L. We're not chasing trends. We're building brands meant to outlast them.
Atmosphere is engineered, not decorated.
Lighting, music, pacing, and service are tuned like instruments — so a room feels effortless to the guest and runs with precision behind the pass. Discipline is what makes luxury feel easy.
Designed with cinematic precision.
Materials, light, sound, and motion are composed to make a space feel like a scene you want to stay inside. Nothing is generic. Every detail is intentional.
We build spaces people obsess over.
We design for emotional impact — the way a room makes you feel the second you walk in, and the story you tell about it the next day. Luxury without stiffness.
Shared DNA
Every concept is different.
The standards are the same.
Atmosphere as the product
Obsessive attention to detail
Luxury without stiffness
Chef driven food
Cinematic precision
Design forward experiences
Strong cocktail culture
Brands people obsess over
The Craft
Hospitality is a discipline.
Every plate, every pour, every interaction is shaped by people who treat the work as a craft, not a shift.
The Voice
Obsessive.Intentional.Cinematic.
Emotionally intelligent. Culturally aware. Never corporate.