Chicken-N-Spice Explains Why It Slashed Hours Of Operation

JOLIET, IL — Last week, the owner and manager of downtown Joliet's award-winning Chicken-N-Spice restaurant made an announcement she never wanted to make. The restaurant's hours were being cut. From now on, Chicken-N-Spice is only open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

During Wednesday's interview, owner-manager Pat Remier told Joliet Patch's editor that Chicken-N-Spice will be doing away with its breakfast menu in the near future.

"We are doing away with breakfast. The only thing we'll keep with us is our waffles," she said.

Why the major changes for the North Chicago Street restaurant across from the Joliet Junior College's Culinary Arts Building?

"It's been out of necessity," Remier told Joliet Patch. "We just can't find people that want to work. It's just crazy."

Remier said the idea of reducing the restaurant's hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. was better than the alternative of closing at least one day of the week.

"It was a real soul-searching thing," she said. "I know our customers are not happy about it. I'm sorry we're disappointing some people."

Will Chicken-N-Spice ever return to normal breakfast hours or stay open into the evenings?

"I hate to say it's permanent," Remier said. "But, I don't see an end to it right now. To us, it seemed a better solution than actually closing down a day."

Remier said the lunch crowd remains strong and so does the catering. "They can still pick up at 6 p.m. on the dot," she said.

The main issue facing Chicken-N-Spice is the lack of employees, its owner said.

"And I know we're not in this boat alone," she remarked. "We thought we would be unscathed, but unfortunately, we know people have lives. And I'm happy with the people we've kept. We're good with what we've got right now with the staff, although it would be hard to refuse somebody who was good."

In 2019, for instance, Chicken-N-Spice averaged about 30 employees, Remier said.

Now, she has 14.

Her suggestion for Chicken-N-Spice customers is this: "If they would just be patient with us, we're trying to keep normal. We treasure our customers."

On a positive note, chicken chunks remain the overwhelming favorite menu selection from customers, she said. And the three different chicken sandwiches that Chicken-N-Spice introduced last September have continued to do very well.

"And we've done very well with the macaroni and cheese bites," she said. "We're going to continue to keep the gumbo going on Thursdays. But I don't have any more plans to add any more soups."

Since 2018, two additional Chicken-N-Spice restaurants have opened, one on Route 59 and Route 52 in Shorewood and another in Orland Hills.

Many people in the Plainfield area and far west side of Joliet now patronize the Shorewood location since it has a drive-thru.

Remier said there is no way her downtown Joliet restaurant will ever add a drive-thru window.

"It's impossible," she said. "There's really no way on the side that we could put a drive-thru. We would have loved to."

Patch asked Remier what could help business in downtown Joliet. She mentioned that having the Jefferson Street Bridge closed since June 2020 makes life difficult for everyone. Crews with the Illinois Department of Transportation expect to have the bridge working in October.

Throughout this summer, IDOT crews are busy working on the bridge.

"It's kind of crazy right now," she said. " I wish we could get the Jefferson Street Bridge open. That would be nice, and I wish they had a better plan for the bridges going up and down. I think a lot of people are spooked and scared about getting lost downtown."