Gurnee IHOP closing Feb. 27 so Hooters can move in
International House of Pancakes in Gurnee will stay open two more weeks before ending its run to make way for a Hooters restaurant, according to a corporate spokesman.
Gurnee village board members this week approved a liquor license for Hooters specific to the building occupied by the IHOP at 5670 Northridge Drive, just east of the Tri-State Tollway-Grand Avenue interchange. Hooters is expected to take possession of the IHOP building March 1, village documents show.
Glendale, California-based DineEquity Inc. is the parent company of IHOP and Applebee's Grill and Bar. DineEquity spokesman Craig Hoffman said Thursday the Gurnee IHOP will close Feb. 27.
"While we have no plans at present, we loved being part of the Gurnee community and would love to be part of it again," Hoffman said.
Gurnee IHOP server Ashley M. Drew said she was among the employees caught off guard by a Thursday story in the Daily Herald about Hooters moving into the space. She said no one gave the workers advance notice about the Hooters liquor license request for the IHOP building the village board approved Monday evening.
Drew, who started her second stint at IHOP in October, said she previously found information online indicating the restaurant's commitment to the building ends this month.
"Honestly, my gut told me two months ago something was going to happen," said Drew, a military wife.
About $1 million will be invested in remodeling the Northridge Drive structure so it can operate as Hooters, according restaurant group chief operating officer Sal Melilli said. At least 75 jobs are to be created at the Gurnee Hooters.
Hooters' interest in Gurnee dates to at least 1996. That's when late-Mayor Richard Welton said Hooters was exploring a location on Northridge - the same street near Six Flags Great America where Hooters will replace the IHOP next month.
Hooters is returning to Lake County after a roughly nine-year absence. It closed after a four-year run in Vernon Hills in December 2006.