Chili's returns to Vernon Hills ... but sans pepper
Chili's Grill & Bar is returning to Vernon Hills, but with a little less zip.
"The big pepper is out, I would think," said Mayor Roger Byrne, referring to the large red pepper normally found near the restaurants' entrances.
During a review of the proposal Tuesday, John Kalmar, assistant village manager, said the design for the new restaurant at the Shops of Aspen Pointe on Route 60 at Aspen Drive complied with the approved architecture for the center.
It will be built of the same color brick as the nearby Buffalo Wild Wings, the board was told.
The only feature that didn't fit was the large chili pepper, prohibited under Vernon Hills' zoning rules, which limit corporate logos to 4 square feet unless they're part of the lettering of the sign.
"It is part of the corporate identity," responded Lisa Kennedy, an architect representing ERJ Dining LLC, a Louisville-based firm that would own and operate the restaurant.
While village officials are happy about the development, they were united against the big red pepper.
"We have a Super Target that's doing just fine and it doesn't have a bull's-eye. The colonel (Kentucky Fried Chicken) never had a bucket in the air," Byrne said.
The little pepper that serves as the apostrophe in Chili's was fine, the board agreed.
"Just take the big chili pepper home with you," Byrne joked.
Chili's had operated in Vernon Hills further east on Route 60 but was closed in May 2004 as a cost-cutting move by Dallas-based owner Brinker International Inc. Kalmar said the new operator wanted to return to the market. As planned, the 184-seat restaurant would open in August.
The restaurant also was closed for 10 days in July 2003 after a salmonella outbreak. The Lake County Health Department reported 169 confirmed cases. It remains the worst incident of its type in the county since 1985.
ERJ is a franchisee of Brinker, which owns and operates 120 Chili's in 10 states. On the Border is another Brinker brand that operates in Vernon Hills.
An ERJ representative was not immediately available Wednesday.