LINCOLN SQUARE — It's been nearly two years since Jared Leonard announced plans for the Budlong Pickle & Chicken Diner in Lincoln Square, and though he realizes he's promised this before, Leonard said the restaurant could open by the end of the year.
"Does it even matter anymore if I predict and it doesn't come true?" Leonard asked.
In the time that Lincoln Square has patiently waited for Budlong, Leonard has changed the concept to hot chicken and opened Budlongs in Lakeview (since closed) and the Loop's Revival Food Hall. A Lincoln Park Budlong is set to start slinging fried chicken by mid-November.
Leonard, who recently moved his family from Rogers Park to Lincoln Square, said the Lincoln Square Budlong, at 4619 N. Western Ave., will benefit from being the last to open.
"If there's a silver lining, we were able to get the brand out and sharpened our systems," he said.
"When we fully set up our kitchen in Lincoln Square, it will be our sharpest opening — they're going to get the best in show," Leonard said. "The opening jitters at restaurants ... we've ironed all that out."
What's been the hold up?
Whereas the other Budlongs were largely turn-key operations located in former restaurants, the Lincoln Square site has required extensive renovations, the majority of which have been of out Leonard's control.
"We may as well have built a whole new building on an empty lot," he said.
Work has started and stopped sporadically, but Leonard said his landlord recently informed him that drywall work has been completed and ventilation should be in place by the end of the week.
"It's certainly further along ... I had almost given up," he said.
Once the bones of the restaurant are in place, Leonard said, "It's not hard for us to gear up."
Both the Lincoln Square and the Lincoln Park Budlongs (the latter at 1008 W. Armitage Ave.) will have much larger kitchens than the shuttered Lakeview location or the one at Revival Food Hall, where Leonard's team serves 500 lunches a day out of a 350-square-foot booth.
More space will translate into additional menu items: pie in Lincoln Park and Spudnuts (doughnuts made from potato flour) in Lincoln Square.
"Each one of these locations, I want to have its own identity," Leonard said.
He bought the liquor license attached to the Lincoln Park storefront, which means craft beer and cocktails will further differentiate the Armitage joint.
Leonard is planning a boozy housemade Budlong fruit punch, calling it "a little sugar to dull the pain" of the hot chicken.
A cucumber-flavored cocktail and Budlong margarita are also in the works.
Once the Lincoln Park and Lincoln Square restaurants come online, Leonard said he doesn't envision opening more Budlongs in Chicago, though he wouldn't rule out a suburban location or more food hall-type sites.
"Downtown just runs like a well-oiled machine," he said. "We could plant that concept in a small footprint anywhere in the U.S."
Leonard is moving full steam ahead with Budlong despite ongoing litigation with former business partner Phil Tadros, who was involved with the now closed Lakeview restaurant.
"Budlong existed a long time before all the drama," Leonard said.
Budlong at Revival Food Hall. [DNAinfo/David Matthews]
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here.
