Redhot Ranch opened a new location at 60 Ogden Ave. in Downers Grove on Tuesday, bringing the chain's beloved burgers and hot dogs to the southwest suburbs. The restaurant is open daily from 10:30 a.m. until midnight and accepts cash only, tucked into a strip mall between an Oberweis and a yoga studio.
The Downers Grove shop marks Redhot Ranch's second suburban location, following a Skokie spot that has been open since 2005, according to NBC Chicago. With the new opening, the chain now counts five locations total, including its Chicago spots in Lakeview, Bucktown and Bridgeport. The outlet described Redhot Ranch as one of Chicago's most beloved places for burgers and hot dogs, and noted the Downers Grove location gives the area a new late-night food option.
Combo Prices and the Menu's Signature Item
Hungry suburbanites will find familiar deals on the menu. The restaurant offers a burger and fries combo for just under $7 and a hot dog and fries combo for just under $6, per the same report. Redhot Ranch also serves its iconic French fried shrimp, a menu staple the station highlighted alongside the chain's classic burgers and dogs.
The chain's origin traces back to a burger epiphany outside Chicago entirely. Jeff Greenfield and Barry Nemerow were eating at an In-N-Out in Las Vegas at the start of 2013 when inspiration struck for what would become their own take on the smashed grilltop burger, a style a 2015 piece in the Chicago Tribune described as a burgeoning trend in burger construction at the time.
A History of Suburban Expansion Talk
Suburban growth has been part of Redhot Ranch's story for years, though not always on a tidy timeline. A 2020 Eater Chicago piece reported there had been talk of opening two more locations, including one near Western and Irving Park Road, though that was discussion rather than confirmed plans. The same article detailed how owner Jeff Greenfield had earlier moved the chain's original Western Avenue spot to 2449 W. Armitage Avenue, under the CTA's Blue Line tracks, in order to save on rent.
Skokie's location had its own winding path to the menu board. Earlier NBC Chicago coverage described a planned Redhot Ranch at Dempster Street and Skokie Boulevard, sharing space with Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy in a spot formerly occupied by That Burger Joint, with Greenfield at the time hoping for an early August opening. Eater Chicago reported the Skokie restaurant was expected to serve the same menu as the Bucktown, Lakeview and Bridgeport locations, with the addition of a new Alaskan cod sandwich, and that Greenfield suggested the opportunity could lead to more Redhot Ranches down the line. Whether those specific plans played out as described isn't addressed in current reporting, but the Downers Grove opening shows the chain's suburban footprint has now grown to two locations outside the city.
