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By Tim Hadac
Managing Editor
Southwest Chicago Post
Managing Editor
Southwest Chicago Post
Several weeks after the long-vacant Brown's Chicken building in the west end of Garfield Ridge was demolished, officials gathered at 6909 W. Archer to break ground on a different chicken restaurant.
A Buffalo Wild Wings GO is planned for the site, much to the approval of 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn.
"Any time we get a shovel in the ground, we should celebrate," he told the Southwest Chicago Post shortly before his shovel was one of several to toss dirt at a ceremony on the morning of Thursday, September 11.
"It's a good start, and we're really excited about getting rid of that blighted Brown's Chicken [building], which has been a real eyesore and a real thorn to the residents of the Garfield Ridge neighborhood," Quinn added.
"Much like what has taken place on Cicero Avenue in the 13th Ward, utilizing food as the anchor, what we've come to recognize is that food stabilizes business corridors," he continued, "so this is a contribution to that philosophy."
Joining Quinn were representatives of the new business venture, as well as other elected officials and business and neighborhood leaders.
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| Quinn (center) speaks with an assortment of local leaders. |
The new Buffalo Wild Wings GO is expected to be built this fall. If all goes as well as hoped, the restaurant could be open by year's end.
It is expected to employ as many as 50 people, mostly part time. Slightly more than half of the new building will be occupied by Buffalo Wild Wings GO. The remainder will be filled by a yet-to-be-determined tenant.
In addition to wings, the typical BWW GO serves chicken sandwiches and wraps, hamburgers, desserts and soft drinks.
There will be limited dine-in seating. The large majority of the business will be via delivery or carryout. There will not be a drive-through.
The new location will be owned by Chicago-based The Hena Group, which is the franchisee for 10 BWW GO locations in the city and suburbs--its most recent opened last month in Harwood Heights.
Headed by CEO Kajal Patel, The Hena Group describes itself as a family-owned and operated company best known for its Dunkin' franchises and other businesses in the Chicago area, as well as in several states outside Illinois.
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| CEO Kajal Patel |
It also is known for its involvement in the communities it serves and generosity to local schools and other non-profits.
By its own account, "The Hena Group’s story began when Govind and Rehka Patel emigrated from India with nothing, and he got a job as a baker at a Chicago Dunkin’ location. Govind saved money to become a store partner and then opened his own store. Together the couple grew their business to open more restaurants with more brands, and now their children: Kajal Patel (CEO) and Saurabh Patel, along with Kajal’s husband Bhavesh and Saurabh’s wife Snehal, are taking the lead on the business. The Hena Group looks forward to continued growth to drive success for generations to come."
Buffalo Wild Wings GO (or B-Dubs, as the company also describes itself) launched in Atlanta in 2020 as an abbreviated version of the popular Buffalo Wild Wings sports bars/restaurants. In five years, BWW GO has grown quickly. Its Harwood Heights unit opened last month was number 200 for the company.
BWW GO is under the corporate umbrella of Inspire Brands, a company founded in 2018 when Arby's acquired Buffalo Wild Wings and Rusty Taco. Today, Inspire employs more than 650,000 people at more than 33,000 restaurants--in all 50 states and about 60 countries,
Brown's Chicken had been located at 6909 W. Archer from the 1970s to its shutdown in 2018. Old-timers in the neighborhood may recall that before Brown's, the site was home in the late 1960s and early 1970s to King Kastle, a short-lived imitator of the White Castle hamburger chain.
How a BWW GO will do in Garfield Ridge is something only time will tell. Several chain restaurants in the area already have an established set of wings fans. Even local pizzerias--most notably Stunod's (6535 W. 63rd Street), Obbie's (6654 W. Archer) and Danny's (6021 S. Archer)--serve wings to acclaim.
Time will also tell if the BWW GO has the positive impact Quinn and others hope--mirroring the restaurant-driven prosperity Quinn has quarterbacked on Cicero, south of 63rd Street. Like hundreds of business strips across the city and suburbs, the Archer Avenue corridor has long struggled to rebound from the damage caused by the Great Recession of 2008--a problem compounded by the pandemic of 2020.
Don Krukowski contributed to this story.
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