223:(R-IL). Bob Jr., who had converted an industrial-sized hospital autoclave into an outsized pressure cooker for the restaurant's unique method of cooking the chicken, took over the operation of the restaurant after his father's death in 1998. Bob Sr.'s wife, Doris, also worked at the restaurant, usually as a hostess. Laura Hastert, daughter of Robert Jr., is the restaurant's current owner and manager. The restaurant's famous fried chicken recipe was added to the menu during the 1950s by Bob Hastert Sr. who, by his granddaughter's admission, told the chicken recipe origin story several different ways at different times and may have just as easily borrowed the recipe from someone else as brought it with him from Harmony House.
183:/Joliet Road from his 450-acre Lemont horse farm, where thoroughbred racehorses were bred, boarded and trained. The story was that Jack Peabody often had weekend guests at his horse farm, but there was no restaurant in the area where he could entertain them – so he started one himself. The roadside restaurant, which opened in a converted farmhouse, was known then for its hamburger sandwiches and Guernsey milk products, including ice cream.
244:, for the title of best fried chicken on Route 66 in Illinois and best corn fritters. Once a matter of dueling billboards on Route 66, the competition is now limited to a contest between menu items. Whereas Dell Rhea's can claim that it began serving its famous fried chicken years before its competitor did, White Fence Farm prides itself in serving an alcoholic brandy ice dessert, made strictly for adults.
216:, which he had opened four years before he bought White Fence Farm. The property had gone through several operators and/or owners after being sold by the Peabody estate. Family legend has it that Bob Hastert Sr. settled on the purchase price for the restaurant property with the previous owner, an acquaintance who had gone bankrupt, by using the flip of a coin.
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ended, Jack
Peabody promoted California wines at the restaurant and helped to revive the California wine industry, as he had earlier helped to revive thoroughbred horse racing in Illinois during the 1910s and 1920s. Peabody operated the restaurant successfully until his death in 1946. After that,
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White Fence Farm bills itself as having "the world's greatest fried chicken," which is pressure cooked and refrigerated in bulk before being individually flash-fried to order. Ever since the
Hasterts acquired the restaurant, it has been in near-constant competition with its nearby rival,
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The restaurant building was expanded several times under the
Hasterts. It now has several dining rooms, with seating for more than 1,000 customers. It also features a side room and gallery that includes an antique car collection, other antiques, and Jack Peabody's collection of original
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Since 1954, the restaurant has been owned and operated by the
Hastert family. Robert Hastert Sr. was the first family owner-manager. Hastert had begun as a wholesale poultry dealer at the Aurora Poultry Market during
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opened in
November 1926, White Fence Farm had already served several thousand customers. It was reviewed several times during the Peabody years by the early restaurant critic
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White Fence Farm operates several satellite carry-out locations throughout southwest suburban
Chicago, an enterprise that was begun by Bob Hastert Jr.
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the restaurant was first leased to several different renters, then eventually sold by Jack's son, Stuyvesant
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Hastert was uncle to and his son, Bob
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and himself CEO of
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The original White Fence Farm location is in
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prints, among other nostalgic displays. During the summer, the restaurant has an outdoor petting zoo.
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Traska, Maria R., "White Fence Farm: An Unlikely Peabody Venture Lives On,"
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362:"Robert J. Hastert, 1936-2010; Ran White Fence Farm restaurants"
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is the name of a restaurant chain with locations in the
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334:Metcalfe Kornecki, Lynne (May 30, 1993).
414:"Get your fried-chicken fix on Route 66"
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16:Restaurant in Illinois, United States
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1219:Chicken chains of the United States
386:Trebe, Patricia (August 16, 2006).
360:Goldsborough, Bob (July 8, 2010).
293:Mayslake Peabody Estate Newsletter
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412:Pang, Kevin (September 8, 2011).
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951:Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken
451:White Fence Farm TV Commercial
155:. The original location is in
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1176:List of chicken restaurants
1034:Texas Chicken & Burgers
824:Brown's Chicken & Pasta
336:"Pickin' the Right Chicken"
262:List of chicken restaurants
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242:Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket
1214:U.S. Route 66 in Illinois
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522:Buffalo Wings & Rings
153:Chicago metropolitan area
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26:
676:California Fried Chicken
547:Church's / Texas Chicken
489:-based restaurant chains
1204:Restaurants in Illinois
986:Quaker Steak & Lube
664:4Fingers Crispy Chicken
117:41.673862°N 88.057587°W
922:Harold's Chicken Shack
795:Southern Fried Chicken
670:Bacolod Chicken Inasal
602:Southern Fried Chicken
916:Hen House Restaurants
712:J&G Fried Chicken
700:Home Original Chicken
682:The Chicken Rice Shop
572:Kenny Rogers Roasters
122:41.673862; -88.057587
1209:Romeoville, Illinois
854:Chicken in the Rough
647:Tastee Fried Chicken
173:Peabody Coal Company
157:Romeoville, Illinois
1199:Poultry restaurants
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860:Chicken Salad Chick
203:Change in ownership
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552:Dave's Hot Chicken
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1016:Smithfield's
957:Mary Brown's
945:Lee's Famous
898:Golden Chick
783:Dixy Chicken
742:Nene Chicken
694:Geprek Bensu
557:Dixy Chicken
421:. Retrieved
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210:World War II
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192:Duncan Hines
186:By the time
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1158:HNT Chicken
1135:Red Rooster
1105:Big Rooster
998:Rostipollos
892:Foosackly's
842:Chick-fil-A
730:Mang Inasal
537:Chick'nCone
235:Competition
196:Prohibition
169:US Route 66
120: /
95:Coordinates
51:Early 1920s
48:Established
43:information
1193:Categories
1070:WingStreet
1004:Roy Rogers
934:Juan Pollo
818:Bojangles'
612:Wienerwald
582:Marrybrown
268:References
108:88°03′27″W
105:41°40′26″N
70:Romeoville
41:Restaurant
1123:El Jannah
1058:Wing Zone
1052:Wild Wing
1022:St-Hubert
910:Guthrie's
872:Dixie Lee
532:Chester's
56:Food type
1064:Wingstop
836:Chefette
789:Morley's
621:Regional
607:SugarBun
567:Jollibee
562:Galito's
542:ChicKing
507:Al Tazaj
423:July 24,
397:July 24,
371:July 24,
345:July 24,
316:July 24,
256:See also
175:founder
80:Illinois
1092:Oceania
1082:Zaxby's
1040:Tip-Top
940:Kyochon
866:Cluck-U
724:Kyochon
597:Popeyes
587:Nando's
487:Chicken
133:Website
86:Country
60:Chicken
1152:Frisby
1129:Oporto
1010:Scores
770:Europe
628:Africa
502:Albaik
495:Global
688:Dicos
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577:KFC
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