Shorewood Getting Chicken-N-Spice Restaurant

SHOREWOOD, IL - When people think of downtown Joliet, three places often come to mind. First is the Will County Courthouse. The second spot is the Rialto. The third destination is 251 N. Chicago St., the award-winning Chicken-N-Spice restaurant. Chicken-N-Spice is a downtown Joliet institution because, who doesn't love the chicken chunks? But, in the coming months, downtown Joliet won't be the only place to go to get your Chicken-N-Spice fix. That's because another Chicken-N-Spice is coming soon to the village of Shorewood.

The new restaurant will go inside the brick commercial building at Route 59 and West Jefferson Street. Unlike the downtown Joliet restaurant, the Shorewood restaurant plans to operate a drive-thru window. The Shorewood Chicken-N-Spice is aiming to be open by early May, said Pat Reimer, owner and manager of the downtown Joliet Chicken-N-Spice.

"I think it will be a great location. Shorewood is a booming little suburb. It's got a lot of things going for it," Reimer told Joliet Patch during a late morning interview Wednesday at the downtown Joliet restaurant.

Reimer said that the Shorewood restaurant will be operated by two men who have substantial experience in the food and restaurant industry. She said that a drive-thru window will be installed at the Shorewood site in the coming weeks. "They're independent of us, but we are going to train their personnel here," Reimer explained.

"I'm really, really happy for them. ... They won't want to change a thing ... when you eat at that location, it will be like eating down here."

Employees say they take enormous pride in their job.

The Shorewood restaurant will also hire about 30 workers, about the same number of staff who work downtown. "It might be a slightly smaller menu, but they are shooting for gumbo one day a week," Reimer pointed out.

As for downtown Joliet, don't fret. The famous restaurant across from the magnificent new six-story Joliet Junior College culinary arts building plans to remain at the current storefront for another nine or 10 years, Reimer said. Eventually, the property will be acquired by Joliet Junior College.

Now that Shorewood is getting a Chicken-N-Spice, a number of people who live elsewhere are probably going to be jealous. But expansion is in the air, Reimer said. She said it's her understanding that the operators of Chicken-N-Spice are actively scouting out for other sites across Will County. She said that the top communities in the running for a Chicken-N-Spice over the next five to 10 years include Plainfield, Bolingbrook and New Lenox.

Chicken-N-Spice's busiest day of the year is Christmas Eve.

But for Reimer, there is no place like home and home is 251 N. Chicago St. Chicken-N-Spice has always flourished even though downtown Joliet has had its share of ups and downs over the past many years. She feels grateful to have such a dedicated group of employees who take enormous pride in churning lots of chicken every day. The store manager is Lety Torres and Angie Ulloh serves as general manager. Both have been involved with the operation about 15 years, she said.

Chicken-N-Spice was established in 1979. It's open seven days a week, 7:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. On Wednesday as the crowd shuffled to order lunch, Reimer was walking across the restaurant carrying a tray of steamy buffalo chicken soup. She was giving away samples to everyone. People from all walks of life were here; including Joliet Police officers and Illinois State Police troopers ordering carryout.

"I love our customers and I love the staff and everything they bring," Reimer said. "I love downtown. We're really happy to see it coming back."

This time of year is super-busy for Chicken-N-Spice. Christmas Eve is the restaurant's busiest day of the year. On Dec. 24, the downtown Joliet business sold 20,000 chicken chunks. "That's all from catering," Torres told Patch. "And that's not including all sides."

Wednesday's lunch crowd was busy, but that's nothing new.

The second busiest day of business is just a few weeks away: Super Bowl Sunday, she said.

"We'll do anywhere from 12,000 to 15,000 chicken chunks," Torres said.

For more about the Joliet chicken restaurant that may be expanding to a Will County community near you in the future, you can visit its website here.

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Photos by John Ferak, Patch Editor for Joliet, New Lenox and Bolingbrook