Atomic Wings to have grand opening Saturday

CHAMPAIGN — Atomic Wings' new Campustown location — and its first franchise in downstate Illinois — will hold a grand opening this weekend.

Festivities begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at the restaurant, which is located at 622 E. Green Street. Local franchisee Kavita Venkatesh said the event will include giveaways, and they also hope to have a DJ there.

"Obviously, everybody can expect good-tasting chicken when they come in," she said. "We'll have samples that people can try while they're waiting."

The Champaign County Chamber of Commerce is also holding a ribbon cutting at 9 a.m. on Thursday.

The local franchise launched its operations with a soft opening a little over a week ago. Venkatesh said this gave them a chance to work through any hiccups that popped up.

When asked if things picked up as students returned to campus, Venkatesh replied, "Oh, absolutely. Summer and school year is totally different."

She added that the community is near and dear to her heart, as her daughter is a recent University of Illinois graduate.

"I'm from Chicago, but we have been coming here while she was studying, almost every weekend or every other weekend," Venkatesh said. "So that's how we got more connected with this location. We really love Champaign."

Venkatesh added that Atomic Wings is halal, "fresh, never frozen" and uses hormone-free chicken.

"Every order is made after it's been ordered, pretty much," she said. "So we do prep everything and we have it ready. People think we are fast food, but we are not fast food. We are just trying to get fresh food faster."