New fast-casual restaurant Minnie Bird will be replacing Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers off Route 14 in Crystal Lake after it closed late last year.

Minnie Bird’s speciality is fried chicken with a menu of chicken tenders, wraps and sandwiches, all served in a retro-themed setting. A standout is the chicken thigh sandwich, co-owner David Sloan said. The restaurant also has dozens of different “dirty soda” options. Dirty sodas are sodas mixed with flavored syrups and cream.

To add on a sweet treat, every order comes with a free soft-serve ice cream, Sloan said.

Located at 5500 Northwest Highway, Unit A, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers closed in November. Around the same time, franchisee M&M Custard filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and shuttered multiple Illinois locations, Restaurant Business Online reported.

Minnie Bird is relatively new, debuting in Schaumburg in 2024. Other locations are in Oak Brook and Naperville, along with another on the way in Glenview, Sloan said.

The business aims to open the Crystal Lake location by the end of this year, said Sloan, who also co-founded Naf Naf Grill. This one will be Minnie Bird’s first drive-thru location.

Minnie Bird is named after co-founder Sean Thomas’s great-great-grandmother. He’s the grandson of Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas, who also worked for Kentucky Fried Chicken before starting Wendy’s.

“There’s this whole story about going back to chicken through the Thomas family,” Sloan said.

More locations are expected to pop up in Illinois in the future, and an expansion into Ohio and Florida is planned.

Minnie Bird will be facing steep competition in the fast-casual fried chicken market, with Popeyes, Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane’s and Wingstop all in Crystal Lake.

Dirty sodas have also made their way into Crystal Lake. 7 Brew and independent business Distorted Sodas both debuted this year.