Planning documents reviewed by ToNeTo Atlanta suggest that the planned relocation and expansion of one Atlanta area Chick-fil-A could happen soon. ToNeTo Atlanta exclusively reported in July 2021 that Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A was looking to relocate their existing restaurant from 3905 North Druid Hills Road to 3795 North Druid Hills Road.
The existing Drive-Thru Only (DTO) Chick-fil-A is not even 1,200 square feet, whereas the new Chick-fil-A, which would include drive-thru, dine-in, carry-out, and a large patio, would span more than 5,000 square feet, according to planning documents. The new restaurant would also feature a drive-thru door rather than a drive-thru window, a relatively new innovation that the chain has been implementing in new restaurants and adding to existing units. The door allows team members to literally walk from the restaurant's prep area to a customer immediately outside and down the line which streamlines order taking, payment, and delivery of food.
(Between the current and upcoming Chick-fil-A restaurants, at 3823 North Druid Hills Road, the owners of Viral Solutions are looking to convert a former dry cleaners into a new drive-thru urgent care facility. The business - Drive Thru Urgent Care by Viral Solutions - launched earlier this summer in West Midtown where the clinic occupies a converted Jimmy John's.)
Chick-fil-A is seemingly going against industry trends, and at a time when practically all restaurants are going smaller - shrinking or eliminating their dining rooms - and focusing almost exclusively on drive-thru customers, Chick-fil-A is increasing the size of their restaurant and adding inside dining area seating where currently they lack.
ToNeTo Atlanta has reported for several years now on the chain's "scrape & rebuilds" in metro Atlanta, where the company demolishes older restaurants and rebuilds them either on the same parcel or elsewhere nearby.
North Druid Hills marks the first location we can recall where the company opted to rebuild a larger restaurant with a dining room in place of a DTO unit. The company has in recent years completed scrape & rebuild projects of DTO units on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs, Cobb Parkway in Akers Mill Square and on Fairburn Road in Douglasville, among others.
Chick-fil-A, which traces its roots to 1946 in Hapeville, today operates nearly 3,000 restaurants nationwide, about half of which seem to be in metro Atlanta. That said, the chain is constantly finding room for new restaurants.
ToNeTo Atlanta was first to report on the chain's plan to open a new non-traditional unit along Peachtree Road in Buckhead. The company is also opening a similar unit along Ponce de Leon Avenue near Ponce City Market. Chick-fil-A is also rebuilding a bigger restaurant on a larger parcel in Buckhead where they purchased and demolished an adjacent lot formerly home to a longstanding package store.
Are you excited for the planned relocation and expansion of Chick-fil-A on North Druid Hills near North DeKalb Mall? What is your favorite chicken chain? What would you like to see open in place of the current DTO Chick-fil-A?
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