Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket

Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket began as a gas station, garage and small cafe. According to local legend, two woman offered to teach the owner, Irv Kolari, to fry chicken if he bought all of his chickens from them. The restaurant was renamed Club Roundup, and then Triangle Inn. In June 1946, he built a restaurant at the current site. The restaurant closed in 1961, and was purchased by Dell and Grace Rhea in 1963. In 1992 the Chicken Basket was listed in the Route 66 Hall of Fame as “The Best Fried Chicken in the Chicagoland Area”. In 2006 the Chicken Basket was listed in “The National Register of Historic Places”.