A&W restaurant set to open next month in Addison

A new A&W restaurant in Addison is expected to open next month in Addison.

Lee Fry Companies, Inc., a Westmont-based firm focused on real estate and restaurant franchising, is planning to open the fast-food restaurant on July 16 in a former Burger King at 1012 N. Rohlwing Road.

“Unfortunately, there have been delays in equipment deliveries for everybody,” said Lee Fry, CEO of Lee Fry Companies. “But we're now rounding third base on our way to opening.”

Lee Fry Companies previously built locations or remodeled existing sites for other restaurant brands like Dunkin' Donuts and Panda Express. But Fry and associates added restaurant franchising to their portfolio in November 2020 with the acquisition of an existing A&W at 113 S. Lincoln Way in North Aurora.

“We're very anxious to get the Addison location open,” Fry said.

A&W, a 102-year-old heritage restaurant brand famed for bacon cheeseburgers and its homemade root beer, used to be part of the global portfolio of restaurant chains owned by Louisville-based Yum Brands. But in 2011, A&W was sold to a group of restaurant franchise owners.

“It is a pleasure to do business with people who are actually your partners in the operation of A & W,” Fry said. “They are consistently helping all the franchisees with training and with advertising promotion and support.”

Fry is in negotiations to open three more A&W locations in the Chicago suburbs. But he could not divulge which villages he had designs on at this moment. Fry's focus is on getting the Addison location up and running by getting new managers and staff trained at the North Aurora location.

“We're using this to our advantage to make sure we're very prepared and ready to take on Addison in a great way,” Fry said. “We'll not only be providing employment for the area. We'll be offering an American type of food that is very special.”