Funky little shack: Home to Atlas Chicken Shack in Geneva celebrates unusual 100th anniversary
Some people see a dilapidated one hundred and who-knows how many years old shack on a prime retail lot and immediately think about tearing it down. Lawrence Colburn immediately thought about frying some chicken in it.
Atlas Chicken Shack in downtown Geneva is just that - a shack. It's an anomaly in a row of well-maintained, if somewhat similar-looking, buildings along Third Street.
The 600-square-foot wooden structure recently celebrated a peculiar 100-year anniversary. In 1923 the unremarkable building was moved from Elburn to its current location at 511 S. Third St. The anniversary celebration this year featured confetti cannons and a ribbon cutting with Mayor Kevin Burns and members of the Chamber of Commerce.
"Why they moved it in the first place, I can't imagine," said Colburn's wife, Tess Bondavalli.
Colburn is glad they did. Since 2016 the Shack has been turning out chicken tenders in a box, on a bun or in a bowl, selling them from a pair of windows in the alley between the Shack and Preservation restaurant next door, which the couple also owns.
There's no dining room since there's literally no room inside. Employees do an elaborate dance daily to keep churning out the chicken.
Despite the limited space, everything is made in-house, from the breaded tenders to the eight sauces for dipping and dressing.
Clearly Preservation wasn't just the name of his restaurant next door. It was Colburn's ethos.
"That building (Preservation) was in really rough shape too, it's like 120 years old," he said. "So the name Preservation was about preserving that one. Then we're just looking at this little broken down building and decided to revive it and give it love.
"And I'm so glad we did. It became such a powerhouse little chicken shack."
Colburn opened Preservation restaurant, which at the time only sat 30 people, next door in 2010, renting the space. After years of renovations and wanting to expand, he purchased the property in 2016. That property included the alley next door and the shack.
"He was so clear about wanting to fry chicken there, I could never talk him out of it," Bondavalli said.
Colburn explained it like he didn't have a choice.
"It was the nature of the building," he said. "It's an old, broken, wooden structure that there's none of in downtown areas. Just such an interesting little one-off shack that made me want to fry chicken in there."
It took about a year to update and renovate the shack, which had never been a restaurant.
Between 1923 and 1998, the building was home to a paint store, architect's office, a couple of different design shops, a men's clothing store, real estate office, financial services provider, travel agency, flower shop and a car phone store.
Many locals remember it as the onetime home of Kernal Fabyan's Gourmet Popcorn from 2006-2013 and after that Smuzi Juice Bar.
The success of the business reinforced Coburn's belief in the concept so much that they recently opened a second location in Bartlett. And this one definitely isn't a shack.
The location at 1048 Army Trail Road, just east of Route 59, features about 20 tables inside plus counter seating in addition to plenty of outdoor dining tables. Customers ordering to-go can use tablets to place their order while the dining room features table service. The Bartlett Atlas Chicken (no shack here) features a full bar and a row of slushie machines that crank out real fruit puree frozen drinks that can be ordered with or without alcohol. Flavors include pear frose, bourbon peach tee, pirate's punch and more.
Colburn said he has plans for more locations.
"We really feel like the product is something people deserve," he said. "I call it a luxury convenience food that's built with love."
Even with all the niceties a new restaurant has to offer, Colburn says the Shack will always be a part of Atlas Chicken.
"I love that little old building and it gave me the spot to dream," he said. "To go in and look at a broken old building and dream it up, start from scratch, build a product, build a great little business. Now we got number two open and we truly expect to do more."