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Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket

Retro roadside
In Willowbrook, Illinois
0.2 mi from Route 66
National Register of Historic Places

Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket serves diners in Willowbrook, IL, on the historic Route 66 corridor in DuPage County, close to today's Interstate 55. Its history goes back to 1938, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. For drivers heading southwest out of Chicago, it is an early chance to eat at a restaurant that has its own place in the road's story, and to see how the old highway and the interstate sit side by side.

What is Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket?

This is a working restaurant, and its name puts chicken front and center. It stands in Willowbrook, a DuPage County suburb southwest of Chicago, beside the historic path of U.S. Route 66, with Interstate 55 running close by.

The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. That listing ties it to the history of the highway itself: it is one of the roadside businesses that grew up to serve people driving between Chicago and points west.

History of Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket

The restaurant dates to 1938, about a dozen years after Route 66 was created in 1926. In that era, long-distance traffic out of Chicago ran along this corridor, and roadside restaurants fed travelers on their way toward St. Louis and beyond. Later, as happened along much of Route 66, an interstate took over the through traffic. Here that was I-55, which now runs close to the restaurant, a reminder of the older highway just beside it.

Visiting Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket: tips

This is a sit-down meal rather than a quick photo stop, so allow about an hour. Restrooms are on site. Before or after eating, stretch your legs at Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve, about 2.3 miles away, or visit the National Shrine of St Therese in Darien, about 2.2 miles off. Because the interstate runs close by, it is easy to rejoin either the old road or the modern highway afterward.