Vienna Beef returning to Bucktown

When Vienna Beef left its former factory site at Damen and Elston avenues in January 2020, a developer planned to turn the site into a driving range and entertainment plaza.

But the deal fell through.

Now Vienna Beef plans to return to the Bucktown site, bringing back its store, cafe and headquarters to a location that the iconic Chicago-based sausage and hot dog company had called home since the 1970s.

The company plans to invest $20 million to rehab the site, adding second-floor office space for 50 employees, first-floor retail space for other companies and an outdoor plaza for events, Vienna Beef said Tuesday.

Vienna Beef is bringing back its factory store and cafe, which will be outfitted with memorabilia spanning the company’s 130-year history that was once housed in the short-lived Vienna Beef museum, which opened at the Bucktown location in 2016.

The restaurant will open in spring 2024.

The plan also includes an outdoor plaza with 80 trees and a garden for hosting events.

The rehabbed 150,000-square-foot space will host other retailers, including a prominent big-box store to be announced later, and over 200 parking spaces, the company said.

The Bucktown location at 2501 N. Damen Ave. had housed Vienna Beef’s factory since the early 1970s. Its factory moved to Bridgeport in 2015, a site that will remain open as a store.

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) said the community is excited that Vienna Beef is reinvesting in the location of its old headquarters.

Vienna Beef employees working at the Fulton Market and Bridgeport offices will move to Vienna Beef Plaza at the end of this year, the company said.