Keeping tabs on Frantastic Wings, Fuddruckers

If you've had a taste for a Fuddruckers hamburger and have kept an eye on the company's future site near Wickes Furniture at McKee and Randall roads in Batavia, you'll have to wait a little longer.

Fuddruckers has a lease on that site, on the north end of the retail strip, but the company has been delayed in completing the construction and opening the site.

"At first, it was going to be a corporate store, and then Fuddruckers decided to make it a franchise store, so a franchisee had to be found," said Randy Recklaus, assistant city administrator in Batavia.

Recklaus said the most recent note he's received from the company stated it had found a franchisee and was wrapping up the agreement.

"It should all be finalized sometime this year and then open shortly after that," said Recklaus, who added that Fuddruckers has been paying rent on the site for more than a year.

The Wings closing: The most reader feedback for anything I've written in the past four years in this column came when I reported the Frantastic Wings restaurant on the east side of St. Charles was closed.

For weeks, patrons of that small restaurant wrote in saying how much they enjoyed it, while also wondering what happened.

I've since learned one of the owners passed away after a long illness.

That may answer some questions about the closing, but it doesn't fill the void for those who enjoyed frequent visits to Frantastic Wings.

Those favorite eateries: The feedback regarding Frantastic Wings illustrates how fond we become for the small eateries tucked into strip malls or in downtown areas.

These places gain loyal followers who can show up as many as three or four times a week -- if the food and service are top-rate.

An example would be Munchy's Gyros and Hot Dogs on the east side of St. Charles. I mention a lot of restaurants in this "Talk of the Town" column because talking about eating is an enjoyable pastime. But I bring up this popular hot dog and beef joint for another important reason: It's the only place I've been to that has several pictures of my beloved Three Stooges on the walls.

Stores in our memory: When county officials decided to buy the building that now houses the county clerk's office on Randall Road, it again made me wish that building still housed a Montgomery Ward.

I bought everything at that store, from clothes to VCRs and microwaves. It seems that just about everyone has a favorite store from the past they wish was still around.

Long-time area residents likely wish Kaiser's was still in downtown St. Charles, as well as Colson's right across the street from it. And Genevans might wish Henry's, a classic dime store, was still on State Street.

The reality is that just as many, or more, new residents in this area have no idea those stores existed. If you have a store from yesteryear that you miss, let me know. I'll pass along some names as "blasts from the past."

dheun@sbcglobal.net