Chick-Fil-A is opening its first restaurant in New York City, a giant, 5,000-square-foot eatery located just blocks from Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan.
"We are beyond excited about opening our first freestanding restaurant in New York," Carrie Kurlander, vice president of public relations,
told Crains New York. She noted that while Chick-Fil-A currently operates a stall in the New York University food hall, "This location will allow us to serve fans who have been asking us to come to New York and to earn the opportunity to serve new customers."
The asking rent for the 3-story building, located at 1000 Sixth Ave., on the corner of West 37th Street, was a reported $450 a square foot for the ground floor alone. Kurlander related that the company is currently scouting out more New York real estate to open restaurants in adjacent neighborhoods and boroughs.
Eater.com reported that the second floor of the restaurant will contain 80 seats, while the ground floor will host 10 registers. The basement will be reserved for food prep.
On opening day, the Atlanta-based restaurant chain will give out gift cards to the first 100 customers, good for one sandwich a week for a year.
It remains to be seen if Chief Executive Dan Cathy's past anti-gay comments will dog the restaurant in the progressive enclave, but comments from Nathan Schaefer, executive director of Empire State Pride Agenda, seem to suggest that local LGBT groups are willing to give the company a new chance.
"We hope that Chick-fil-A's planned entrance to New York City comes with a side of LGBT-inclusivity and a newly-thought strategy for supporting ventures that are equality friendly," he said.
"The bedrock of our city is built on diversity and the history of the LGBT civil rights movement took place on our streets; we encourage all new businesses, including Chick-fil-A, to learn from the mistakes they've made and welcome a new era that is reflective of the people they will be serving."
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