Oil change franchise to open at former Mother Cluckers Kitchen site in Palatine

Quick-service oil changes will replace broasted chicken and po boy sandwiches at the former location of Mother Cluckers Kitchen restaurant in Palatine.

Strickland Brothers 10 Minute Oil Change plans to open in a new building at 220 N. Northwest Highway.

Village council members Monday voted to grant a special use and a zoning variation permitting a setback of five feet along the property's south side, instead of the required 10 feet, to allow the new business.

Village Planning and Zoning Director Ben Vyverberg told the council that the existing building provides only a 1-foot setback on the south side.

Officials said the property's unusual shape and frontages on three roadways - Northwest Highway, Hicks Place and Colfax Street - makes it a difficult site to build on.

"It's a challenging site from a redevelopment perspective," Vyverberg said.

The existing approximately 3,200-square-foot building will be demolished to make way for a new 1,750-square-foot structure. The business plan calls for three to four employees and two to eight cars on site at any time. Hours will be 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Established in 2016 in Thomasville, North Carolina, Strickland Brothers has more than 125 locations nationwide, including in Bolingbrook, Downers Grove, McHenry and Algonquin. The business offers stay-in-your-car oil changes, tire rotations and state inspections.

Mother Cluckers Kitchen has been closed since May. It opened in 2018 in the former Hot Dog Richie's location, serving fried, smothered and broasted chicken.

Mitch Goltz of GW Properties in Chicago told village officials that the firm had acquired the property in foreclosure. The building was in poor condition and was boarded up after an drove through it in July, he said.

Goltz said he tried to market the existing building but found no takers.

"I know a lot of people looked at this location for restaurant opportunities, because it has been a restaurant. (But) everybody wanted a drive-through. There was no way you could put a drive-through in there," Mayor Jim Schwantz said.