Chicago is about to get another spot to enjoy hot dogs — and then some.
Iconic Chicago food supplier Vienna Beef on Tuesday revealed plans to “reimagine” its former 150,000-square-foot factory in the city’s Bucktown neighborhood into “Vienna Beef Plaza,” featuring a restaurant, retailers, an outdoor gathering space, and more.
“Vienna Beef has long imagined what possibilities exist at our former factory location, where Vienna was in operation since the early 1970s,” Tom McGlade, Senior Vice President at Vienna Beef said in a press release. “We couldn’t be more excited to see Vienna Beef Plaza come to life.”
According to officials, Vienna Beef relocated its factory operations from Bucktown to Bridgeport in 2015. Five years later, in 2020, the Bucktown Factory Story and Café had closed.
According to officials, Bucktown development, spurred by a $20 million investment, will reinvent Vienna Beef’s “once beloved” factory location at 2501 N. Damen into a mixed-use space for retail customers, hot dog diners and even nostalgia lovers. It’s also set to house company headquarters, with “state-of-the-art” offices for approximately 50 employees, the release says.
“The Vienna Beef Factory Store and Café will be resurrected at the [Bucktown] site featuring the full line up of Vienna Beef products, elevated classic Chicago menu items and dining options,” the release goes on to say. “The restaurant will be outfitted with memorabilia that encapsulates the company’s 130-year history as Chicago-born and Chicago-made.”
In addition to other retailers, the space will also be set up to play hot to indoor and outdoor events, as well contain a “prominent big-box store to be announced at a later date.”
According to officials, the restaurant as part of Vienna Beef Plaza is slated to open in the spring of 2024, with Vienna Beef employees currently working out of the company’s Fulton Market and Bridgeport offices set to relocate to Bucktown by the end of the year.
The existing Vienna Beef Factory Store location in Bridgeport will remain open, the release says.
“Vienna Beef is a Chicago company in its heart and at its core,” McGlade’s statement continued, “and it only makes sense that there is a place in the city for enthusiasts to come and experience everything Vienna Beef— and Chicago— has to offer through excellent food, fun memorabilia and a thriving retail experience.”
