Vienna Beef, home of the original Chicago-style hot dog, is reopening its former factory space in Bucktown, located at 2501 N. Damen Ave.
The company recently announced it is undergoing a $20 million redevelopment in its former home to become “Vienna Beef Plaza,” according to Block Club Chicago. The new space will be used as the company’s headquarters, a restaurant, a factory store, and retail space for other companies. This is great news for the company, considering it closed its store and cafe three years ago and moved its corporate office to West Loop. The restaurant will open in Spring 2024 and will feature a full line of Vienna Beef products.
“We’ll have Chicago dogs, Maxwell Street Polish, Italian beef, we’re going to do great burgers, fries, we make soup and chili, so there’ll be soup and chili,” Vienna Beef vice president Tom McGlade tells Block Club Chicago. “Other than that, just high-end fast food, Chicago products.”
The restaurant, which will sit in the company’s former factory, will allow customers to take away or eat onsite within the eatery or in the new outdoor space the company is building. Customers will also see the interior of the restaurant “outfitted with memorabilia that encapsulates the company’s 130-year history as Chicago-born and Chicago-made,” according to a news release. Vienna Beef will also sell hot dogs and sausages in bulk, as well as merchandise and other products.
“We will be gutting the entire inside,” McGlade said. “We’ll be keeping the outside, with the exception of putting a brand new roof on, and really starting from scratch with spaces that’ll be very unique to this part of Chicago.”
