The Biggest Chick-fil-A in the U.S. Opens Next Week

The Chick-fil-A at 144 Fulton, next to the Fulton Center, posted on its Facebook page that it’ll open next Thursday, March 29. It’ll be the “largest and most intricately designed [Chick-fil-A] restaurant in the country,” said the press release announcing the restaurant last September. (That was two years after we learned about it, but who’s counting?) “At more than 12,000 square feet, Chick-fil-A at Fulton Street will be nearly twice the size of any existing Chick-fil-A restaurant, with design elements that have never been featured in the chain’s 2,200+ restaurants. Spanning five floors, the restaurant will feature floor-to-ceiling windows on each level allowing for natural light throughout the entire restaurant, a signature monumental staircase accentuated by a skylight, three levels of dining with seating for 140 guests, a semi-private group meeting and dining space, two kitchens, and a rooftop terrace.”

P.S. A couple of readers give me grief whenever I write about Chick-fil-A. While the company’s historical objection to marriage equality is among the reasons I wouldn’t eat there, the restaurant is of substantial interest to a lot of folks around here, and I’d be remiss (and foolish) not to cover it. We all have to make our own decisions in life.

 

18 Comments

  1. I wouldn’t let the CEO’s personal stance get in the way of some seriously good chicken. Why don’t you try them out when the store opens?

    • I don’t eat industrially farmed chicken.

    • It’s not just that the billionaire CEO has racist opinions, it’s that he uses money made from Chick-fil-a to support anti-gay organizations. So if you patronize that business, your money will be going to support those organizations. If you’re OK with that, go for it. I’m not.

      • Exactly! They openly fought to oppose my civil rights and I will never forgive them for that. I will not patronize their restaurant and don’t consider it a good addition to the neighborhood. I hope a lot of people feel the same way, but I have no doubt it will do well. Just know that they would do better if they didn’t have such a bigoted history.

        • HORRIBLE on so many levels. Have never been in one and never plan to.
          But unfortunately due to the location it will probably do well.
          This is exactly what we DO NOT need in FIDI.

  2. I think it’s eminently newsworthy, but I hope you won’t ever mention the restaurant without also mentioning the anti-gay organizations the CEO funds, as some people might not be familiar.

  3. Sad. The neighborhood could have used something worthy of being there.

  4. I won’t support this business, since it kills animals for profit.

  5. I too will not be supporting this place for the reasons mentioned above and hope others will follow.

  6. Can’t wait!!! Hands down the best fast food restaurant in America!!! So glad to have one close by!!! Gimme the nuggets!!!!

  7. Definitely an interesting addition to the area. The chicken biscuits they serve for breakfast are outstanding btw!

  8. Chick-fil-A is the type of chain establishment one would find in the suburbs. This would be better fit in Long Island, Westchester and Rockland. NYC has become a suburb or Middle-America. Everything has become generic and corporatized. Why live in an overpriced abode when one can have the same experience and offerings from the bland suburbs. All the unique and quirky places that have have soul and character that made New York New York and gave New York City soul and character have been vanished.

    Next up, people would be celebrating the opening of an iHOP, Target, or Dairy Queen in NYC… oh, wait.

  9. Thanks, Erik, for not politicizing your reporting. Would that more media outlets did that.

  10. I’d encourage you to read the article below before jumping to conclusions about their current stance.

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/06/14/chick-fil-a-opens-on-sunday-to-feed-orlando-blood-donors/85868494/

    • HC….They can never atone for the damage they’ve done and continue to do by donating to organizations that have bigoted policies.

  11. I’d never set foot in the place for the same reasons as Erik and everyone else – I’m gay and vegetarian and am horrified by factory farming. Out of curiosity, though…do they even serve vegetarian options? I took the “Chinese bus” to Boston once and they stopped at a McDonalds and a Burger King on the way for a pit stop and there literally wasn’t a thing on the menu that wasn’t meat. I was hungry, and hadn’t been in a fast food place in a decade or two, and somehow that really surprised me. Imagine an entire meal of meat – fried, breaded meat. No vegetables, except fried potatoes. Just fried meat and potatoes and sugary soda. Pretty scary that anyone would consider that a “meal.”

  12. I support marriage equality AND love Chick-fil-a !
    Politicizing fried chicken is silly. This country WAS great because we could agree to disagree, without all of the anger.

    • You say politicizing chicken is silly yet that is exactly what they did by using company money to try and restrict rights of this countries citizens. We can still agree to disagree, but not when someone disagrees with your existence.