Chicken-N-Spice

Nice piece here on Joliet local favorite Chicken-N-Spice.

It was hard not to panic back in the 1980s when many businesses were pulling out of downtown, Pat Reimer said.

"To look across the street and see everything boarded up was just scary," she said.

In 1979, Reimer and her husband, Ken, had taken a chance on opening a restaurant, Chicken-N-Spice, in a building at 251 N. Chicago St. that had originally housed a Jack in the Box and then a Popeyes. Then they watched as most of the retail stores and car dealerships left downtown.

"All of these things provided customers," she said of the fleeing businesses. "You can't help but have that sense of fear."

Great food, obviously good people. Downtown Joliet could use a lot more committed entrepreneurs like the Reimers. They have kept it simple (Chicken-N-Spice is totally a no-frills kind of place; the seating appears to be unchanged from its Popeye's/Jack In The Box days) and stuck with what they do best. Though Will County's growth has boosted the number of workers downtown (Joliet is the county seat) businesses continue to struggle there and vacant retail space remains a problem.

(Photo by John Patsch, Joliet Herald-News.)