As is tradition, the celebration of Lexington’s newest Chick-fil-A restaurant, at 2299 Richmond Rd., will begin the evening before the official grand opening as hundreds of fans are expected to camp-out for a chance at winning one of 100 gift cards good for a year’s worth of free Chick-fil-A meals.
Registration for the give-away event begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday, August 22, and the overnight party will include family friendly activities, as well as complementary Chick-fil-A food. Since the First 100 Campout promotion was first offered 14 years ago, the party has become a tradition at the opening of new Chick-fil-A locations and helped to garner widespread attention.
The Lexington Humane Society will be onsite at the Richmond Rd. location from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. grand-opening day, Thursday, August 23, to accept pet food donations. They'll also bring along some furry friends that are available for adoption. The restaurant will offer a gift card good for three free menu items in appreciation for pet food donations.
The Richmond Rd. Chick-fil-A location, set to open August 23, is operator Roderick Long's second in Lexington.
“I am excited to bring another Chick-fil-A to Lexington and have an opportunity to expand my community service outside my restaurant,” said operator Roderick Long in a statement announcing the grand opening. The Richmond Road location is Long’s second Chick-fil-A location. He opened his first location, in Hamburg Place, in 2003.
Long, who served four years in for the United States Air Force working counter-narcotic intelligence before attending college at Angelo State University in Texas, is also active in the company’s Remarkable Futures education initiative.
The program awards scholarships in the amounts of $2,500 or $25,000 to employees who are beginning or continuing their higher education. The scholarships may be applied toward any area of study at any accredited institution. The company reports that Long’s investment includes awarding more than $72,000 in scholarships to date, including starting his own tuition reimbursement program and awarding $25,000 in Remarkable Futures scholarships so far this year.
The Richmond Rd. site will be Lexington’s eighth Chick-fil-A, and one of 129 slated to open nationwide this year. The dining room seats 146, and features a vintage-inspired interior with a large community table made from reclaimed wood and light fixtures made from recycled Coca-Cola bottles.
The location also features a two-lane drive-thru that merges into a single pick-up point and can handle more than 180 cars an hour, as well as a covered canopy for walk-up ordering. The restaurant also features a door at the drive-thru pick-up window. It’s a feature Long first sketched on a napkin in Lubbock, Texas, while talking with two other operators about ways to improve guests’ drive-thru experience. Both of his restaurants feature the door, and his Hamburg Place location was the first in the chain to include one.