We were at the stand alone location in Davenport, IA last weekend. It was excellent!! And if the crave is there and Racine is too far North and East, Davenport is only 1 1/2 hours from let's say... Aurora or so.

John

Happy Chick-Fil-A in 2010!

Took a trip out to Colorado for the holidays and finally had the opportunity to make a visit.



Since it was my first visit My bride and I tried many of their basic offerings.




Chick-fil-A Original Chicken Sandwich

They kept it simple. Breaded chicken patty with pickle chips on a bun.
Nice sized and juicy patty with a tasty breading. Bun soft and fresh.


Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich

Once again the patty was juicy and the toppings fresh. Very tender.


Nuggets

A little bigger than a bite. Nice crispiness to the breading. A good selection of sauces to choose from.




Lemonade

This was very tasty! Fresh squeezed and a touch of tartness. Free refills too.

All in all a very nice visit! They are a favorite of our family that lives out there and they will choose Chick-fil-A over all of the other fast food offerings.

They do have a better than average philosophy focusing on producing a good product and closing on Sundays.

Much better than other fast food chicken offerings and even besting a few privately owned places. Hope they do make the move to the area.

Not sure if you forgot to comment on them but... I really enjoy their waffle fries as well. Not fresh cut by any means but, crispy and tender, but not greasy, all at the same time!!

John

That looks delicious!

IIRC, there was an outlet (long gone) in the mall of Springfield, IL when I was a youth. I never did get a chance to try it. With any luck, they'll open a restaurant in the Chicagoland area. Relatively convenient to bus or train would be an added bonus.

You can't go again without having the peach milkshake. Its brings back the memory of eating homemade peach ice cream on your grandmother's back porch in summer.

ogre wrote:That looks delicious!

IIRC, there was an outlet (long gone) in the mall of Springfield, IL when I was a youth. I never did get a chance to try it. With any luck, they'll open a restaurant in the Chicagoland area. Relatively convenient to bus or train would be an added bonus.

I've probably said this a few times in the thread, but for whatever the mall locations [and college ones] just aren't as good as the standalone ones. Maybe it's all mental, I don't know. But we had a location in my college's food court, I would always get the grilled chicken there because the fried ones just weren't good. The many standalone locations, though, I loved [being Atlanta, there were many].

As for Springfield, was it the mall on the west side near Veteran's Parkway? I spent many weekends in Springfield growing up [dad lived there], but was never at a chik-fil-a there.

AaronSinger wrote:

ogre wrote:That looks delicious!

IIRC, there was an outlet (long gone) in the mall of Springfield, IL when I was a youth. I never did get a chance to try it. With any luck, they'll open a restaurant in the Chicagoland area. Relatively convenient to bus or train would be an added bonus.

I've probably said this a few times in the thread, but for whatever the mall locations [and college ones] just aren't as good as the standalone ones. Maybe it's all mental, I don't know. But we had a location in my college's food court, I would always get the grilled chicken there because the fried ones just weren't good. The many standalone locations, though, I loved [being Atlanta, there were many].

As for Springfield, was it the mall on the west side near Veteran's Parkway? I spent many weekends in Springfield growing up [dad lived there], but was never at a chik-fil-a there.

Correct, it was the White Oaks Mall, at Veterans & Iles. I grew up a couple of blocks from the mall, and there was a Chick-Fil-A in there probably until the late 80s, next to the old McDonald's, long before the days of the food court (even before the days of the term "food court".... ah, simpler times.) Anyways, I remember having waffle fries and nuggets there as a little kid.

I'll try to check my Chick-Fil-A new store Chicago intel sources and get back to everyone soon.

Groundbreaking for Chick-Fil-A locations in Aurora and Orland Park is scheduled for April 19th according to a story in the Tribune today. The restaurants should be open by late summer if everything goes as scheduled.

LabRat wrote:Groundbreaking for Chick-Fil-A locations in Aurora and Orland Park is scheduled for April 19th according to a story in the Tribune today. The restaurants should be open by late summer if everything goes as scheduled.

Groundbreaking on my bday, great news!

LabRat wrote:Groundbreaking for Chick-Fil-A locations in Aurora and Orland Park is scheduled for April 19th

Panther in the Den wrote:No idea as to the construction status in Aurora.

After seeing yesterday's Trib, I recalled a coincidence occurred two weeks ago as my BIL paid a visit (rare)

Asked what he was doing in our area, and he said he was bidding a job (he's in the demolition business). Asked him where, and he gave the location of the old Smokey Bones building on Rt 59 at FoxValley Mall.

So maybe this wasn't a coincidence, and the old news of the Smokey Bones location panned out after all.

Just a side note about the upthread mention of a Naperville location, this stretch of Rt 59 bounces back and forth between Naperville and Aurora, with some stores sharing the same parking lot having different city addresses, so these locations always were one in the same.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/ ... 7247.story


Argh, I guess I should be happy but all these locations are still a good hour from downtown chicago with traffic! I guess there will never be a downtown Chik Fil A?

any updates?

FoodSnob77 wrote:any updates?

Breaking ground in about a week.

LabRat wrote:Groundbreaking for Chick-Fil-A locations in Aurora and Orland Park is scheduled for April 19th according to a story in the Tribune today. The restaurants should be open by late summer if everything goes as scheduled.

Orland Park location will be at the southeast corner of 156th Street and LaGrange Road in the Lowe's development. I will try and drive by there in the next few days and see whats going down.

http://blogs.southtownstar.com/orlandpark/2009/09/chick-fil-a_coming_to_orland_p.html

They are hosting a "Coming to Chicago" event next Tuesday at an event space in the South Loop. They gave away some tickets via Facebook last week. No idea what will be involved, but my wife is mildly obsessed with Chick-fil-a, so we'll be there.

kl1191 wrote:They are hosting a "Coming to Chicago" event next Tuesday at an event space in the South Loop. They gave away some tickets via Facebook last week. No idea what will be involved, but my wife is mildly obsessed with Chick-fil-a, so we'll be there.

There's also a private event being held at the Gleacher at the Booth School - the CEO is giving a talk - as part of these activities.

Oh man, I hope they come close to Highland Park/Deerfield/Northbrook! I want to have it as a breakfast option for that chicken biscuit!

i stopped at the one off I-65 EXIT 172 .
first time there & enjoyed the chicken sammy very much .service was outstanding

Panther in the Den wrote:

FoodSnob77 wrote:any updates?

Breaking ground in about a week.

LabRat wrote:Groundbreaking for Chick-Fil-A locations in Aurora and Orland Park is scheduled for April 19th according to a story in the Tribune today. The restaurants should be open by late summer if everything goes as scheduled.

I drove by the Aurora location on the way to the bank today. The building is gone. I would have to say that means ground has been broken....

Forgot to mention it was the Fox Valley Mall location.

kl1191 wrote:They are hosting a "Coming to Chicago" event next Tuesday at an event space in the South Loop. They gave away some tickets via Facebook last week. No idea what will be involved, but my wife is mildly obsessed with Chick-fil-a, so we'll be there.

I was seriously thinking of going to that, but not when I saw the Blackhawk's playoff schedule. Let me know how that event is.

Sounds like ground was broken yesterday, on my birthday. That's a good sign. Seems like a trip to the western suburbs is in order in august.

Looks like Wheaton might be next:

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beac ... 10.article

I was surprised to read this:

In the next five years, Chick-fil-A plans to open 20 to 25 sites in the Chicagoland market, with one possibly in downtown Chicago.

Even better!!

From Crain's: Chick-Fil-A is actually planning to make Chicago a key part of its expansion strategy. The article (http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=37891) said that while they won't disclose the city location yet, they have signed a contract. Crain's also noted that they plan to have at least 25 Chicago locations in the next 5 years and that Chicago is a test market for their urban (non-mall based) restaurant program.

I am presently in the land of Chick-Fil-A. Chances are I will not be going there. I just don't get what the big deal is about processed white meat chicken.

stevez wrote:I am presently in the land of Chick-Fil-A. Chances are I will not be going there. I just don't get what the big deal is about processed white meat chicken.

Can't explain it...but it's the only fast food I EVER eat voluntarily and have loved it since I was a kid. Hope you are finding a few other tasty things in FLA

kl1191 wrote:They are hosting a "Coming to Chicago" event next Tuesday at an event space in the South Loop.

Rousing enthusiastic welcome by Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy equaled by the enthusiasm of the crowd. People love, and I do mean love, Chick-fil-A. Chicken sandwiches meaty, moist, my bride commented its the pickle that makes the sandwich, tart fresh lemonade tasty enough for me to almost forget no liquor was served at the event.





Its clear Chick-fil-A is committed to the Chicago market, equally clear there's a core cadre of Chicago Chick-fil-A fans breathlessly waiting for them to arrive.

Enjoy,
Gary

In case you missed it in openings and closing, Chick-fil-A is breaking ground today in Aurora along Rte. 59 in the old Smokey Bones site. They expect an August opening.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beac ... 10.article

There is a Chick-fil-a in the Orlando Airport food court.

I am happy they are coming to Chicago!

You forgot a pic, Gary!