Taco Bell proposed for Northwest Hwy. site in Jefferson Park, where Popeye’s, Burger King, phone store formerly located

by BRIAN NADIG

Taco Bell with a drive-through facility is being proposed for the former site of a Burger King and Popeye’s Chicken at 5224 N. Northwest Hwy. in Jefferson Park.

A construction permit for the project was filed with the city in January, but it cannot be fully processed until a special use request for the drive-through is reviewed and approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals. The board, which acts independently of the City Council, could hold a public hearing on the matter this spring.

The Taco Bell would be located inside a stand-alone building on the south end of a plaza at the southwest intersection of Foster Avenue and Northwest Highway.

In recent years the building has housed a consulting company, a COVID-19 testing facility and an AT&T phone store.

When it was first built in 1987, the building was home to a Goodyear Tire shop before being converted into a restaurant, whose tenants included Popeye’s Chicken, Burger King and for a short time an independent burger company. About 10 years ago a Mexican restaurant looked into leasing the building.

The north end of the plaza is occupied by a building with two tenants, ATI Physical Therapy and Physicians Immediate Care. Previous occupants of that building have included Nancy’s Pizza, Subway and a car stereo store.

Over the years some tenants have complained about the difficulty of making left turns to and from the plaza due to traffic backups on Foster and Northwest Highway.

Project officials recently met with several area community groups at the request of Alderman James Gardiner (45th).

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