New Restaurant to Open in Joliet Area

JOLIET- A new food option will be gracing the streets of Joliet in the coming months. Popeyes Chicken will be opening a new location at 2301 W. Jefferson St., a location steeped in fried chicken history.

The location was built as a Brown’s Chicken in 1969 and then changed to Just Toni’s in 2011. Just Toni’s offered all the normal Chicago-Area options like hot dogs, Italian beef and of course, fried chicken. The restaurant closed down in 2014 and has the building has been vacant since.

The location and surrounding area has proven to be a successful endeavor as national chains like Mooyah, Potbelly, Wingstop, Chipotle and Starbucks have all opened and thrived in recent years. The impact for the community will be felt with obvious job creation, because according to Statista.com, “15.45 people” work at the average fast food restaurant. This is not counting the workers that will be brought in to remodel and repurpose the building as well.

The coming opening has brought a mostly positive reaction out of University of St. Francis students. Iain Morison responded with “a resounding yes,” when asked if he would frequent the location upon opening. Kylie Mason exclaimed, “Yes, of course, I love fried chicken,” mirroring the sentiment of Hannah Tadey who also gave an “of course”. There was one “maybe,” answer out of Sara Michalowicz and a quick “no,” from student Ivan Flores.

There is no official timetable yet for the development. However, there is construction fencing around the location and planners have stated that they plan to just remodel the building rather than a full tear down and rebuild. This will allow for a quicker turnaround and a most likely opening by the beginning of next year. If in the mood for Popeyes this very moment, the nearest location is located in Crest Hill.