From blocks away, 31-year-old West Side resident Ronnie Williams could see the smoke from the fire.
“I was riding down Madison when I saw the smoke from like Kostner to almost like Pulaski,” Williams said. “I thought it was just a little flame or something but when I rode past I saw the whole building [was] almost gone.”
When he got closer to the building, he could see that the windows were burned out. The cause of the fire remains unknown, CFD said.
“I don’t even think they opened that early,” Williams said.
Originally founded as Royal Chicken by Gus W. Rickette Sr. and his wife Mary in the early 1960s, the Rickette’s reopened the restaurant as Uncle Remus in 1968 after the chicken shack burned down during the King uprisings. According to the MacArthur Foundation, the couple was offered an “Uncle Remus” sign for a discounted price, and they adopted the name.
The Rickette’s opened its West Side location — at 5611 W. Madison Street — in 1969, according to the restaurant’s website. Since then, the family chain has added additional locations on the South Side and in the western suburb, Broadview. The Rickette’s daughter, Charmaine, runs the family chain.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for more updates.