Phil Benner is an entrepreneur involved in more than one business endeavor. In the restaurant business, The Budlong is one of the startups he worked on. The Budlong is a series of hot chicken restaurants that has four locations in the busy city of Chicago. The idea for the Budlong came from Jared Leonard, who tried Nashville fried chicken at a barbecue conference. Realizing how big of a market a city like Chicago could offer for good, hot fried chicken like this, a team brought the idea to life. With the first store opening in 2016, they already have four restaurants in the city. With four levels of spiciness, naked, classic, hot, and x-hot, the delicious (trust me, it’s delicious) chicken appeals to a wide crowd. The good location and great food come together to make this business unique.