Chuy's Tex-Mex coming to Warrenville in July
A nacho bar served from the back of a '56 Chevy or a '57 Cadillac.
A shrine to Elvis and Elvis-themed fried chicken.
Homemade sauces featuring hatch green chiles grown in New Mexico.
These are among the staples at Chuy's Tex-Mex, which is opening its first suburban location July 25 in Warrenville.
Local owner/operator Larry Cappos of Chicago says he's excited to bring the Chuy's brand to the region because of its focus on freshness and flavor, its scratch-made recipes and its friendly service that he says turns the restaurant into an “escape.”
The Warrenville Chuy's is set to open at 28250 Diehl Road in a new structure the Texas-based restaurant is building near Main Event Entertainment and the other stores and restaurants in the Cantera area. Two more locations are planned for the suburbs, slated to open in October in Schaumburg and early next year in Orland Park.
The new Warrenville restaurant will have a hub cap room, where caps from cars of the 1970s and 80s hang from the ceiling, and a car room decorated with pictures of classic rides — more Chuy's staples. But the design will be fresh, Cappos says.
“If you've seen one Chuy's, you've seen one Chuy's,” he said. “They're all different.”
Cappos, who has been a restaurant manager and helped open restaurants for a hospitality company, said he's eaten at Chuy's in the Lone Star state and become a fan of its homemade flour tortillas and Chicka-Chicka Boom-Boom Enchiladas.
“We just do everything fresh and are continuing cooking throughout the day,” he said.
The restaurant also offers a nacho bar from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, where happy hour customers can load up “fried to perfection” chips with beef, queso and other toppings from a serving station built into the back of an old car, Cappos said.
The restaurant will have about 150 employees and has hired roughly a third of them so far. It will partner with the Student Excellence Foundation, which supports enrichment programs and activities for students in Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200.
“I think people will be extremely impressed,” Cappos said, “with what we do.”