Get ready to “Eat Mor Chikin.”
Director of Housing and Residence Life Craig Allen said TCU's newest food addition, Chick-fil-A, is in the final stages of construction.
Allen said the restaurant, located in the former home of 1873 Café & Sports Grill on the first floor of the Brown-Lupton University Union, will feature an exclusive Chick-fil-A menu with operating hours catered to college students.
Although Chick-fil-A will be closed on Sundays, following the store’s nationwide policy, Allen said the restaurant will have the same late night hours as 1873.
“Chick-fil-A will be open regular 1873 hours," Allen said. "Actually, it will probably open a little earlier, prior to 11 a.m.”
However, it will close at midnight on Saturdays, he said.
As for the employees, Allen said Sodexo employees, along with regional Chick-fil-A management and support, will run the new restaurant.
“A number of our management staff have been to Chick-fil-A to do some training, and they’ve been at different locations locally to do training on how to operate the Chick-fil-A,” Allen said.
Allen said while the menu is exclusively Chick-fil-A, it is not a full menu at this time. Rather, the menu is like a “Chick-fil-A Express," with a more limited selection of food options.
“Like at the mall or an airport, we’ll start with [a limited menu selection]…but we hope to be able to expand and offer as much of the menu as possible,” he said.
Allen said the initial decision to bring Chick-fil-A to campus was heavily based on student demand as seen in survey results on campus.
“Chick-fil-A is regularly the top requested branded concept,” he said.
After several “menu makeovers” at 1873, Allen said the university decided it was a good idea to approach Chick-fil-A with the idea of housing a restaurant in 1873.
“They were very receptive to the idea,” he said, which was finalized in late April/early May by the company’s corporate entity.
At this time, Allen said there are no plans for a ceremony or celebration when the restaurant open but has not ruled out the possibility for one. He said a ceremony or series of celebratory events may be held after Chick-fil-A opens.