ROUND LAKE BEACH – Brown's Chicken and Pasta has had a location in the Mallard Creek Shopping Center in Round Lake Beach since the center opened nearly 21 years ago.
In late May, Brown's ceased to exist.
But chicken lovers don't have to worry, because the same franchise owners of the belated Brown's have created a new way to dine chicken.
At the Chicken Coupe.
"I had a lot of successful years with Brown's," said owner Dan Bolnius of Gurnee. "I didn't have a bad word to say about them until recently, when they filed for bankruptcy in December."
Out of the 300 stores Brown's had in 1992, by December 2009, only 39 were left, Bolnius said - and his, which he owned with his wife, Cindi, was one of them.
"Despite the success I had with Brown's, Brown's the chain was struggling really bad," Bolnius said.
So, when the Bolnius' franchise contract recently expired, the couple decided to end their 18-year franchise history and start their own chicken business.
Thus the Chicken Coupe – characterized with a chicken driving a car – was born.
The restaurant business has always been tough, and starting out fresh hasn't been easy, Cindi Bolnius said.
But there are some upsides to owning your own restaurant.
"We're able to do our own taste-testing," Cindi Bolnius said. "Now, we're going to do what we want, do the specials we want, which is great. We've had to find our own uniqueness. We've found some of it, but there's more to come."
The Chicken Coupe has traditional chicken and biscuit dinner options, but the Bolnius' have gotten creative with their menu.
Not only does the restaurant have new options - like jumbo buffalo wings with seven different sauces - but the names of the menu items flow with the car theme the name encompasses.
SSandwiches aren't spelled incorrectly; rather, the SS stands for SuperSport, like the Chevy model, Bolnius said with a grin.
Want a SSalad? Choose from a Coupe salad at $4.59 or a Mini Couper at $3.49.
$3 Go Karts are available for kids, with chicken tenders, a chicken leg or macaroni and cheese paired up with fries and a drink make up a small meal.
Cindi Bolnius even came up with a new, sweet-flavored dessert to offer customers, and her daughter, Jamie, came up with the name.
"Fuzzy dicing" is a fritter with a butter icing, Cindi Bolnius said. Six fritters are $1.99. And Bolnius has a pair hanging from his car, the couple said, laughing. Of fuzzy dice, that is.
So, what's with the car theme?
"For 18 years, whenever I said I was going to work, I said I was going to the coop, as in C-O-O-P," Bolnius said. "I'm into cars, so we decided to call it the coupe - C-O-U-P-E."
If you go ...
What: The Chicken Coupe
Where: 714 E. Rollins Road, in Round Lake Beach, in the Mallard Creek Shopping Center
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday
Contact: 847-546-0046 or www.chickencoupe.net
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