An upscale steakhouse in Chicago has revealed that it makes just $25 in profit on a hefty $500 dinner check.

Kindling Downtown Cookout & Cocktails is a restaurant run by celebrity chef Jonathon Sawyer on the ground floor of Chicago's tallest building, the Willis Tower.

The business has had to contend with high post-COVID operating costs and rising wholesale prices for steak since opening in 2023.

Sawyer broke down his restaurant's cost of business and tiny profit margins in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. 

Dinner for a relatively small party of four at Kindling can easily climb to $500 or more with the menu's high prices. 

A full course meal might look something like a $19 starter of creamed spinach & artichoke dip, followed by a $68 'Mrs O'Leary' 8oz filet, complete with red wine demi glace and fried shallots, and a $17 cocktail or a couple of $8 beers to wash it down.

That makes for a total of a little more than $100 for a single person. The bill could vary, as some entrees, such as the cheapest pasta option, are priced as low as $22. 

But other options, such as the most expensive steak - a 32oz prime porterhouse - go for $150 or more. 

Kindling Downtown Cookout & Cocktails is a restaurant run by celebrity chef Jonathon Sawyer (pictured)

Sawyer recently revealed that his restaurant makes just $25 in profit on a $500 meal

Dinner for a relatively small party of four at Kindling can easily climb to $500 or more with the menu's high prices. Pastrami spiced short ribs from the restaurant are pictured here

Multiply the more than $100 price tag for one person by four, add a 20 percent tip and Chicago's restaurant sales tax of about 11 percent, and a $500 bill for a relatively small party becomes easy to achieve. 

But out of that $500 paid to the restaurant, according to its owner, $190 is spent on food and alcohol, $175 goes to labor costs and $110 goes to rent, insurance and other fixed costs.

The remaining $25 is all that the restaurant pockets in profit. 

Beef prices are at a record high, with average wholesale costs skyrocketing 67 percent from pre-pandemic levels. 

And although Sawyer opened his restaurant in 2023, he revealed to the outlet that his steak costs have gone up 40 percent in the past year alone.

During the pandemic, drought conditions dried up grazing pastures, and general economic difficulties caused by rapid inflation caused ranchers to sell off their cattle and restrain the size of their herds. 

That created a supply crunch that has clashed with consistently high demand for steak and forced prices through the roof.