Eat Mor Chikin...

One of the things I love most about living in Virginia is Chick-fil-A.  

Out west I would only see this fabulous fast-food restaurant in malls...but here there is one on just about every corner.


I loooove Chick-fil-A.  The sandwiches are stupendous, the nuggets are nice, the waffle fries are fantastic, and the milkshakes are marvelous (how's that for alliteration?).  Oh, and did you know they serve breakfast too?  

I honestly think I could eat Chick-fil-A every day and not get tired of it.

So...imagine my excitement when a corporate Chick-fil-A PR person walked into our newsroom with dozens of sandwiches and goodies.  She was here to announce the grand opening of a new restaurant and was hoping for some press.


Of course I BEGGED for the assignment and, after thinking it over, my producers said YES...so photog Ashby and I were on our way to my happy place.

When we arrived, this is what we found:

Hundreds of people camped in tents with air beds, sleeping bags, canopies, coolers, games, food, and radio's.  

You see, when Chick-fil-A opens a restaurant, they do it right.

Folks from everywhere show up 24 hours before the restaurant is set to open.  Managers then hold a raffle and 100 names are chosen to receive free food for a year.  A YEAR!  Who wouldn't want that?


Those 100 people must then wait in the parking lot until the eatery officially opens the next day.  Chick-fil-A feeds them and they can use the restaurant restroom...but they can not leave the premises.

But this isn't a bad thing.

No, it's very good.  In fact, it's a huge party.  A DJ blares music, dance-off's are held, and peeps spend their time playing cards and other games. 

We ran into this couple from Florida who has been to 57 of these grand openings!  


They met the guy in the middle at an opening three years ago and now they are great friends.




The cool thing about these parties is the President/CEO of the company visits EVERY restaurant and spends the night in the parking lot with his customers!!  He even tried to get me to stay.  Watch:

While Chick-fil-A has tasty food, there are other reasons why I love the place.  

Every single location is closed on Sunday. 
(remember the 4th commandment?  They actually keep it.)

The service is superb  (and in Virginia, that's hard to find).  

Employees are friendly and always smiling.  

They give out tons of free food coupons.

Most of all, I love the company's mission statement:

 “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”

Name one other fast food restaurant (or company) that has a mission statement similar to this. 

We were supposed to be live at 11 at the new restaurant but a huge storm forced us to cancel.  We still did a taped piece - check it out below and tell me what you think.


Oh, and next week a new restaurant opens in Maryland.  I've got my tent, sleeping bag, pass-a-long cards, and Scrabble game all packed up...who's coming with me?