New Chicken-N-Spice Drive-Thru: Patch Editor Tries It Out

SHOREWOOD, IL - We've all heard about people supposedly fleeing Illinois to live far, far, away, even in Canada, because of this state's high taxes and the never-ending stories of political corruption and the constant gridlock in Springfield. But, there's a chance the state's fortune may change thanks to a new restaurant in Shorewood. I'm talking about the new Chicken-N-Spice at Route 59 and U.S. 52, the intersection that gets 60,000 cars a day. If you've ever eaten at the original Chicken-N-Spice in downtown Joliet, you would never think about moving to some awful place like Wisconsin, Indiana or Moose Jaw, Saskatchawan.

Last week marked the grand opening of the second Chicken-N-Spice. Knowing the place would be crazy busy for the first few days, I decided to restrain myself, to wait until now to try the place out.

My purpose for visiting the new Chicken-N-Spice on Tuesday was twofold.

I needed to check out this new drive-thru experience. The downtown Joliet restaurant does not have a drive-thru. Second, I needed to find out if the food served up in Shorewood is just as tasty as the food made at 251 North Chicago Street.

First, the drive-thru.

I pulled into the drive-thru exactly at noon, according to the digital clock in my car. There were two other cars directly in front of me waiting to place their order. Off in the distance, I saw at least two other vehicles that had already placed their orders and were waiting to pay and get their lunch.

I placed my order at 12:04 p.m. A few minutes later, I was up to the window. The window help was extremely polite and patient. I pulled out the parking lot at 12:08 p.m.

So overall, I would say the drive-thru experience was efficient. I'm sure, over time, it will get even better. After all, the place hasn't even been open for a week.

As for my lunch, I went with George & Eddie. Besides the three breast chunks, I got the spicy rice, small JoJo's potato wedges, small coke and a biscuit.

I can say this: there was no drop-off in terms of the quality of my meal. If I did not know any better, I would have thought I was eating my lunch in downtown Joliet. The breast chunks were fabulous. The sides were terrific. My food was fresh and the portions were sizable.

The most difficult decision I faced involved the sauces.

I played it safe and went with barbecue sauce for my breast chunks.

Out of all the restaurants I've written about over the past many weeks, Shorewood's Chicken-N-Spice is probably the one I am most likely to visit on multiple occasions.

Part of it is logistics. The restaurant's barely a mile from my house and my kids have grown to love the Chicken-N-Spice from downtown Joliet from the times I brought food home from there.

I do have one suggestion for Shorewood motorists: I would strongly discourage you from attempting to make a left-hand turn out of the Chicken-N-Spice parking lot back onto Jefferson Street.

If you need to drive back toward the west side of Joliet or to Interstate 55, I would suggest you loop back around the Chicken-N-Spice and make a right-hand turn onto Route 59.

As it stands, I've noticed some cars leaving the parking lot attempting to make a dangerous and ill-advised left-hand turn against oncoming traffic along U.S. 52, which is Jefferson Street.

Sooner or later, somebody's going to get clipped.

Images via John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor