ANDERSONVILLE — A popular Chicago hot dog chain is opening in the former Reza’s restaurant on Clark Street.

Devil Dawgs is opening this summer at 5259 N. Clark St., a spokesperson for the company confirmed. It will be the sixth location for the local hot dog chain.

The restaurant is taking over one half of the former home of Reza’s, a popular and longstanding Persian restaurant that closed its doors in 2023 .

Andersonville neighbors can expect the same Devil Dawgs menu as other locations, including its classic Chicago hot dog, jumbo spicy sausage and Italian beef sandwich. The location hopes to offer an outdoor patio as well, the spokesperson said.

Devil Dawgs opened its first location in 2010 in Lincoln Park, according to its website. The original storefront closed in 2020.

The business now has four locations in Chicago, including at 937 W. Belmont Ave. in Lakeview, 1431 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Wicker Park, 804 N. Rush St. in the Gold Cost and 767 S. State St. in the South Loop. There’s also a location in Evanston at 921 Church St.

Devil Dawgs ushers in a new era for the building on the southeast corner of Clark Street and Berwyn Avenue.

Reza’s was first opened in the space in 1983 by Reza Toulabias. It was considered one of the first Persian restaurants in the city and long anchored an Andersonville commercial corridor that has seen major changes over the years.

But the restaurant ran into trouble with city and state regulators in its final years. Reza’s in 2022 saw its state business registration revoked by the Illinois Department of Revenue due to non-complaince with state tax law. At the same time, the restaurant building was also ordered “off limits” by the Chicago Department of Buildings after inspectors found multiple code violations, including exposed electrical wiring.

Reza’s closed the following year and sold the building to a prominent real estate investor.

The corner storefront was then slated to become a Foxtrot, but those plans were scrapped after Andersonville small businesses teamed up to advocate against the upscale corner store chain .

The restaurant took up two adjacent storefronts. The corner spot is where Devil Dawgs will open; Dentologie, an upscale dentist office, opened in 2024 in the south spot at 5255 N. Clark St.