Broadview’s Uncle Remus Reopens After Renovations

Uncle Remus founder Gus Rickette (fifth from left), Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson, and Uncle Remus CEO Charmaine Rickette Alfred gather on July 12 with other Broadview officials, Uncle Remus employees, family and construction contractors to cut the ribbon on the franchise’s newly reopened Broadview location. | Courtesy Village of Broadview 

Saturday, July 13, 2024 || By Michael Romain || michael@wearejohnwilk.com 

Fans of Uncle Remus Saucy Fried Chicken, 1801 Roosevelt Rd. in Broadview, have something to cheer about. On July 12, the restaurant chain reopened its third and only suburban location after being closed for remodeling for about a year. The company operated a food truck in Broadview during that period. 

“I didn’t think it would be this long,” said Uncle Remus CEO Charmaine Rickette Alfred before a ribbon-cutting on Friday. “ “This has stretched my faith to a level I never thought it would be.” 

Alfred said the company paid for the $400,000 renovation project largely with its own money and local Tax Increment Finance (TIF) funding. She learned about the funding through a chance encounter with Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson. 

“Banks don’t like restaurants,” she said. “This place was done with a lot of love and hard labor and out of the cash register. When you don’t have a loan, you have to do it yourself and figure it out. We figured it out.” 

Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson, Gus Rickette and Charmaine Rickette Alfred pose with other Broadview officials and the village’s summer youth interns inside Uncle Remus on July 12. | Courtesy Village of Broadview

“What we fail to recognize is that small, Black businesses go through the hardest,” said Mayor Thompson. “I didn’t want this project to be hard for her to do something so meaningful to a lot of people who believe in and come to this location to purchase food.”

Alfred called the renovated space Uncle Remus 2.0 to reflect the store’s new features, including a wall-size tribute to the franchise’s 50-year history, a large walk-in freezer, a new filtration system, new speakers in the lobby and kitchen, kiosks allowing customers to place their orders, order tracker screens, and a dedicated section for online Door Dash orders, among other enhancements. 

The store has also added items to the menu, such as rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn. In several weeks, it plans to launch a new version of its loyalty program. Alfred said the program has saved its 5,000 members $23,000. 

Alfred said this is the 20th anniversary of Uncle Remus’s opening in Broadview. The franchise was founded in 1969 by Alfred’s parents, Gus and Mary Rickette, at 210 S. Cicero in Chicago. The couple had owned and operated several other chicken restaurants, including G & G Chicken Shack and Royal Chicken, before opening Uncle Remus. 

In August of 1969, the couple opened their largest Uncle Remus restaurant at 5611 W. Madison St. in the city’s Austin community “to offer customers a carry-out menu as well as a dine-in food experience,” the franchise’s website explains. “This location still exists and is a staple in the Austin community.” 

Gus and Mary retired in 1991 when Alfred began managing the day-to-day operations at the Austin location. In 2015, she opened a second location at 747 E. 47th Street in the city’s Bronzeville community.

Gus Rickette, who grew up poor in Leland, Miss., and turns 98 this August, beamed with pride during Friday’s ribbon-cutting. He had a pithy explanation about how he and his wife went from wage workers to founders of one of the most iconic chicken brands in the Chicago area. 

It all started, he said, with “one box of chicken and a lot of faith.”

Uncle Remus Saucy Fried Chicken-Broadview, 1801 Roosevelt Rd., is open Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. To 10:30 p.m., Sunday, noon to 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit uncleremususa.com.