Mary's is expanding into the suburbswith its largest location yet.
Hamburger Mary's, the popular Chicago-based hamburger restaurant, with its flagship location now anchored in Andersonville, plans to open a franchise in Oak Park next summer that also will operate as a microbrewery.
It will be the Oak Park Brewing Company, and owner Ashley Wright said Nov. 26 that the Oak Park location will be the chain's largest, surpassing the 7,000 square-feet that Mary's fills in Andersonville.
Wright would not say exactly where the new location will be, nor what the building currently is, though it now is not a restaurant, thus, it must be entirely gutted, he said.
Wright said they likely will sign legal papers to acquire the building in January.
"We've always had our eye to expand ever since we took over the brand nationally in 2007," Wright said. "We don't necessarily want to do another Hamburger Mary's in Chicago, and Oak Park has just always attracted us."
That's because Wright and his twin, Brandon, have participated in that suburb's annual beer-tasting festival. They have considered Oak Park for about a year and truly been in-pursuit of an Oak Park location since this past summer.
"We really didn't think it would be happening this quickly, but everything is just kind of falling into place … so why not," Wright said.
Wright, 41, said Hamburger Mary'swith 12 domestic locations and one in Berlinlikely will open additional locations in 2014. He would not say in which cities, though California locations are likely.
"When we took over the brand in 2007, there were only four locations. We've built it to 12 [locations] domestic and one international locationBerlin, Germany, opened this past April.
"Our goal is to open one or two new locations annually, and eventually grow to three or four [new locations] annually. Eventually we'd like to be in every major city."
Wright added, "We opened our Hamburger Mary's as a franchisee in 2006. At the time, we never would have guessed that we would own the brand a year and a half later. I knew it was a good concept and a good brand when we bought it, but it's definitely taken me places where I didn't necessarily foresee in the beginning. Originally, we just wanted to open a neighborhood Hamburger Mary's, and eventually get to the point where we'd hire a manager and then just sit at the bar and drink all day."
Sara Fuerst, of the Oak Park Development Corporation, said in a statement: "We are very pleased to have the Oak Park Brewing Company and Hamburger Mary's coming to Oak Park. We like their product, as have the patrons at the Micro Brew Review, the annual Oak Park event."
Hamburger Mary's first opened in 1972 in San Francisco.