NRA Show 2027 · May 22–25, 2027 · McCormick Place, Chicago
NRA Show 2027 booth design & build in Chicago
Custom and rental exhibits for the National Restaurant Association Show, built around a working sampling counter or live equipment demo. Utility ports, refrigeration, drayage and installation handled by Purple's Chicago crew at McCormick Place.
Chef demonstrating food at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago in 2017
Purple at NRA Show 2027
What makes NRA Show different, and how we build for it
The National Restaurant Association Show is the one week a year when operators taste, cook and buy in the same aisle. The FABI Awards and the Kitchen Innovation Awards put winning products on dedicated display, the Culinary Demos and Show Floor Theaters pull crowds toward live cooking, and The Beverage Room Stage does the same for drinks. Exhibitors spread across the North, South and Lakeside halls, and every listing carries over to The Show To Go, the year-round product platform. Booths that win here are working kitchens first: something on the burner, a sample in the hand within ten seconds, and a table where an operator can talk menu and pricing.
A taste or a demo in under a minute, then a seat and a price sheet to talk about how the product fits a menu, a kitchen line or a labor problem.
To see preparation up close, handle the equipment, and compare finished plates side by side under lighting that shows the food honestly.
Specifications, case counts, integration details and a quiet corner away from the sample queue for a longer conversation.
Purple in Chicago
Local crew, national shop
With McCormick Place as a frequent stage, our Chicago crew knows every regulation, layout constraint and labor rule by heart. We optimize booth logistics for fast setup, perfect lighting and zero downtime, so your space is visitor-ready on day one.
Predictable 30–45-day turnarounds, secure storage and pre-show QA. Your booth ships from our production shop in Fishkill, NY or our Las Vegas hub, and our project manager is on the floor for install and dismantle.
Booth options for NRA Show 2027
Pick a footprint. We’ll price it as a rental, a custom build, or a hybrid.
The NRA Show floor is anchored by equipment manufacturers and national food brands on islands with full kitchen lines, so an inline booth has to earn attention with one visible cooking or sampling moment. Most Purple clients here choose between a 10×20 with a working counter and a 20×30 island with a demo kitchen and seated meeting space.
One sampling counter with concealed cold storage and restock, a single hero product wall and a stool for a quick operator conversation.
See 10×10 rental booths →
A live prep or cooking station on one side, a sample handoff counter on the other, plus a small table for menu and pricing talks.
See 10×20 rental booths →
An open island with a demo kitchen at the center, tasting counters on two sides, a hanging sign and an open meeting table.
See 20×20 rental booths →
A full working kitchen line, a beverage or tasting bar, a seated meeting zone and a back-of-house room for refrigeration, dishwashing and stock.
See 20×30 rental booths →All-in 2026 ranges for design, structure, graphics, installation and dismantle; booth space, drayage and show services are separate. A custom-built booth runs roughly $100 to $250 per square foot depending on finish level. A rental of the same footprint usually lands at 35 to 50 percent of the purchase price for one show. Get an exact number for NRA Show with the booth cost calculator or read the 2026 booth cost guide.
Send the show, your booth size and what the space needs to do. We return a fixed proposal, usually within two business days.
Built by Purple
Booths we have designed, built and installed
Case study · Machu Picchu Foods
Machu Picchu Foods at food and beverage trade show
A layered, walk-through environment inspired by the landmark itself, turning curiosity into sampling conversations.
Read the Machu Picchu Foods case study All case studies →“If you’re looking for a trade show booth expert who shows up and gets the job done right, Purple Exhibits is the real deal.”
Magdalena Kulisz, Service Manager, Miss Immigrant USA · more client reviews
Designing for food, beverage, foodservice equipment and restaurant technology brands at NRA Show
Four things we get right for NRA Show exhibitors
Put the cooking where the aisle can see it
We position the burner, fryer or espresso machine on the open side, build the counter and lighting around that task, and give the demonstrator working room behind it. A camera feeding a screen turns a small plating detail into something readable from thirty feet away.
Separate the taste from the sale
The sample handoff gets its own counter beside the packaging and product name, with a reset area behind it. A seated table sits a step away, so a serious menu or purchasing conversation continues while the next visitor is still chewing.
Design the back of house first
Refrigeration, dry stock, a hand sink, waste and dishwashing all get a home in the first layout, inside the island or behind the brand wall. A crowded back counter becomes a crowded front counter by noon on day one.
Size the equipment before the millwork
We take the machine dimensions, weight, service clearances, power and water needs from your equipment team, then draw the surrounding counters. Utility ports come up through the floor at McCormick Place, so the cooking line is planned around the port, not the other way round.
Concept rendering
Every proposal comes with a rendering like this
You see the booth in 3D before we cut a single panel: layout, graphics, lighting and product positions, revised until it is right. Shown: a Purple concept for Cremica.
Start my NRA Show conceptMcCormick Place · Chicago
Logistics for NRA Show 2027, handled
McCormick Place is a union building, but since the 2010 MPEA Reform Act your own full-time staff can assemble a booth of any size with their own tools. Material handling from dock to booth stays Teamster work, billed at about $210 per hundredweight with a 200-pound minimum, so we crate everything, use aluminum frames instead of wood and send one consolidated shipment from our Midwest carrier to the advance warehouse on target. Food exhibitors get floor utility ports in the North, South and Lakeside halls, plus general overhead lighting and sanitary dishwashing facilities with the booth. We book the dock, file the utility forms and run install and dismantle with our Chicago crew.
Hall rules, drayage estimates and freight deadlines for this building are in our McCormick Place exhibitor guide.
What Purple handles
- Exhibitor kit, general contractor orders and target dates
- Utility, refrigeration and equipment placement drawings
- Graphics printed in house and proofed against your packaging
- Freight to the advance warehouse and drayage paperwork
- Installation, dismantle and return shipping with our Chicago crew
- A project manager on the floor for all four show days
Timeline, counted back from move-in
- Early March 2027Design sign-off, with equipment dimensions, utility loads and the sampling plan locked into the drawings.
- March to mid-April 2027Production in our shop; counters, refrigeration cutouts and graphics proofed against your real packaging.
- Late April 2027Consolidated shipment leaves for the advance warehouse in Chicago on target.
- Move-in days before May 22, 2027Purple's Chicago crew installs, connects to the floor ports and runs the pre-show checklist.
- May 22–25, 2027Show days; a Purple project manager is on call and restock storage is reset each morning.
- From close of show, May 25, 2027Dismantle, equipment and unused product packed to your return plan, booth to storage or the next show.
NRA Show exhibitor questions
Questions exhibitors ask us before NRA Show
How much does a 20×20 at the NRA Show cost?
A 20×20 island rental runs $16,000 to $40,000 and a custom 20×20 runs $50,000 to $120,000, covering design, structure, graphics and installation. A working demo kitchen with refrigeration and plumbing moves the number up; send us your equipment list and we return a fixed quote.
Can you install at McCormick Place?
Yes. Our Chicago crew works McCormick Place all year. We handle dock scheduling, drayage paperwork, the connection to your floor utility ports and the pre-show cleaning, and we are on site again for dismantle when the hall closes on May 25.
Can we rent a booth for the NRA Show?
Yes. A 10×10 rental starts at $3,500 and a 10×20 rental with a sampling counter lands between $7,500 and $15,000. Rental structure with custom counters and your graphics is the most common first-year choice for food brands at this show.
When do we need to decide?
Design sign-off in early March gives a 30 to 45 day build and a late April ship date to the Chicago advance warehouse. We can go later, but choices narrow on refrigeration units, finishes and freight pricing the closer you get to May.
Do you handle the general contractor orders and drayage?
Yes. We read the NRA Show exhibitor kit, file the booth, utility and equipment forms, order material handling, electrical and water, and keep you copied on every deadline. Drayage is billed by weight, so we crate tight and ship once to keep the bill down.
Get a proposal
Tell us about your NRA Show booth
What happens next
- We reply within one business day with questions about your products, goals and footprint.
- You get a concept rendering and a fixed proposal, usually within a week.
- We build in 30–45 days, ship to the advance warehouse and install before the hall opens.