Mother Cluckers Kitchen To Open Palatine Location

PALATINE, IL — A Chicago chicken restaurant plans to open a Palatine location in the building that previously had housed Hot Dog Richie's. The Palatine Village Council unanimously approved Monday the request by Mother Cluckers Kitchen to maintain a fewer numer of parking spots than is mandated at the proposed location, 220 N. Northwest Hwy., the Daily Herald reports. The owners of the proposed restaurant had asked to keep 18 spaces instead of the 26 needed, according to village documents.

Under its proposal, Mother Cluckers will operate in the 2,000-square-foot building that had been the home to Hot Dog Richie's for more than 40 years. The hot dog spot abruptly closed in 2015 after the restaurant missed payments on its $340,000 mortgage. Customers learned about the closing when an eviction noticed was hung on the restaurant's front door on Oct. 30, 2015.

According to village documents, the new restaurant will seat 54 people, but the owners — Richard and Penny Schweigel of Mount Prospect — expect about 40 percent of the location's business coming from take out orders. Mother Cluckers plans to hire about 15 staffers, with around seven to eight people working on the same shift. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest Palatine news. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Suggested hours for Mother Cluckers will be from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, and the Schweigels anticipate the peak hours to be lunchtime — 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. — and dinnertime — 5 to 7 p.m. Residents who atteneded a public hearing concerning the restaurant earlier this month had expressed concerns about whether the area could support the traffic generated from another restaurant. Mother Cluckers' expected peak hours, however, wouldn't conflict with the early-morning rush at the nearby Starbucks.

RELATED: Hot Dog Richie's Abruptly Closes

The owners also are expected to apply for a liquor license for wine and beer only, village documents state. Although the location has more than 1,200 square feet of retail space, Mother Cluckers' owners don't have any plans to use it right now.

The proposed Palatine restaurant would only be the second location for Mother Cluckers, which opened its current space at 5200 Elston Ave. in 2014. The eatery serves a vareity of barbecue ribs, sandwiches, shrimp and, of course, broasted chicken.

More via the Daily Herald

The former home of Hot Dog Richie's will become a new location for Mother Cluckers Kitchen. (Photo via Google Earth)

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