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East Village Wendy's to Reopen with 'Fresh New Look' in June

By Alisa Hauser | April 3, 2015 5:17am | Updated on April 7, 2015 10:14am

EAST VILLAGE — Part of an effort to renovate 6,000 nationwide outposts, a Wendy's at 1623 W. Division St. — just west of the Ashland Avenue and Division Street intersection — will reopen on June 29 after an extensive remodeling, according to a spokeswoman in the chain's Dublin, Ohio office.

Wendy's, 1623 W. Division St. (DNAinfo Chicago/Alisa Hauser)

Rendering of what the remodeling will look like when completed (Courtesy of Wendy's)

The renovation to a new "Image Activation" design will include a new kitchen, dining room, pick-up lane and patio.

No menu changes are planned. The renovation will also include a new logo with the phrase, "Quality is our recipe."

"We are very excited to ramp-up our re-imaging efforts in 2015 as we plan to upgrade several hundred more restaurants by year end," the spokeswoman said.

So far, about 800 Wendy's, including 50 in the Chicago area, have undergone the interior and exterior improvements, offering more lounge chairs and booth seating, WiFi access, flat-screen TVs, digital menu boards and more.

On Wednesday, Divine Enrique, 15, a student at Noble Charter School in West Town, was eating an early dinner at Wendy's with friends from Lincoln Park and Lane Tech High Schools.

"We come here a lot but will just find another place to go [when Wendy's temporarily closes], like the Wing Stop," Enrique said.

Neal McKnight, a member of the East Village Association's planning committee and the group's former president, said, "Any remodel is bad for the neighborhood if it doesn't eliminate the drive-thru."

McKnight is referring to a drive-thru lane, which has two "curb cuts" onto Division Street that sometimes causes traffic snares at the busy intersection.

For several years, Wendy's neighbor was a Pizza Hut, but the one-story Pizza Hut was demolished to make way for the construction of an 11-story, 99-unit apartment tower at 1611 W. Division St.

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