Of particular interest to our Southern transplants — Chick-fil-A is eyeballing Santa Rosa. Again.
Rumors that the wildly popular Southeastern fried chicken sandwich chain might be seeking a Northbay spot surfaced earlier this week. The spot being bandied around as a likely locale: the former Burger King at 1452 Mendocino Ave. (near Santa Rosa High School and the Junior College).
Yes, we know this isn’t exactly earth-shattering news. Unless you’re from the South. Then, it might be. Because we’re told there’s one on just about every corner and they’re as popular as, well, In-N-Out are to West Coasters.
Insiders at Chick-fil-A tell BiteClub they are definitely looking at Santa Rosa as a possible location for a new store, but that any opening would be at least a year away. “We are growing our foot print on the West Coast,” said Brenda Morrow, who works in the company’s Atlanta-based public relations department. She added that the company had not identified any specific location yet. Meaning don’t get your knickers in a twist just yet.
Longtime residents may remember the Chick-fil-A at Santa Rosa Plaza years ago — we looked it up and it opened in 1982. When and why it closed remains a mystery to us more recent transplants (and it doesn’t happen to be in our newspaper archive). Do you remember?
With the first 100 customers* winning a free meal a week for a year, you can understand some of the excitement the restaurants engender among it’s indoctrinated. That, or it’s just a Southern thing.
If you’re a kale eater…not so much.