A new restaurant will open Jan. 24 in the former Scholars Inn Bakehouse on East Third Street in Bloomington.
It's the third Joella’s Hot Chicken location in the state. The restaurant group also has locations in Ohio and Kentucky.
Crews are wrapping up renovations at the restaurant, which include adding a bar and patio.
Joella’s will make use of the previous restaurant’s drive-thru window, which is a first for the company.
The Bloomington location will give the first 100 adults in line on opening day free chicken for a year.
"It’s about $50,000 worth of chicken that we give away," says Regional Vice President of Operations for Schulte Restaurant Group Christina Happel.
People can start lining up as early as 24 hours in advance.
Joella's serves Nashville-style hot chicken and southern sides. There's one flavor that's so hot customers have to sign a waiver when ordering.
