Joliet's Sharks Fish And Chicken Opens: 'We Do A Lot Of Catering'

JOLIET, IL — The former Church's Chicken restaurant on Joliet's Collins Street that closed in September 2020 came back to life Wednesday as Sharks Fish and Chicken opened here.

Sharks will be open daily at 345 Collins St. Its hours are: 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Sharks is a Chicago-based fast-food franchise specializing in fried fish, chicken, shrimp, chicken wings and sandwiches, employees told Patch.

"We do a lot of catering orders," an employee said.

When Patch asked what's been the most popular item on the menu being sold during Wednesday's opening, the employee responded without hesitation, "the chicken wings."

In August, Joliet Patch reported Sharks was filling the empty Church's restaurant that closed around September 2020.

Now, Sharks is at the busy corner of Collins and Jackson Streets, across the street from the Gulf and Thornton's gas stations, on the city's east side.

There is no indoor seating and no drive-thru window for the new Sharks.

"It's call-ins and walk-ins," the employee remarked, noting that Sharks is also using Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats to handle delivery orders.

Joliet is not the only place to land a new Shark's.

On Nov. 14, the fast-food franchise announced on Facebook that it just opened a Sharks Fish and Chicken at 1701 North Larkin Ave., in Crest Hill's Hillcrest Shopping Center.