Augusta Chick-fil-A with windowless drive-thru announces November reopening date

Joe Hotchkiss, Augusta Chronicle
·2 min read
Chick-fil-A's hand-painted "Eat Mor Chikin" motto greets passing motorists as builders perform exterior work on the expansion for Chick-fil-A at 3066 Washington Road in Augusta, Ga., Aug. 9, 2022.
Chick-fil-A's hand-painted "Eat Mor Chikin" motto greets passing motorists as builders perform exterior work on the expansion for Chick-fil-A at 3066 Washington Road in Augusta, Ga., Aug. 9, 2022.

Augusta’s Chick-fil-A on Washington Road is reopening its doors next month – but it won’t be reopening a drive-thru window.

The fast-casual chicken franchise at 3066 Washington Road will hold its grand reopening at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 3 and will open to the public at 10, franchise owner John Powell told The Augusta Chronicle on Monday afternoon.

“We just feel really blessed and fortunate that we’ve been given this opportunity,” Powell said.

The restaurant will be open only for lunch that day. The following day, Friday, Nov. 4, regular service hours will resume – 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.

No windows: Windowless drive-thru coming to renovated Augusta Chick-fil-A

Closing: No more chikin? Only temporarily, as Chick-fil-A on Washington Road closes for renovations

Chick-fil-A has gained a reputation for smooth drive-thru service that is routinely tested with its often-long customer lines, where face-to-face customer service can help ameliorate longer waits for food. The restaurant built an Innovation Center in Atlanta in 2019 where the company can test and fine-tune new service-delivery concepts.

One such concept includes a full-length door through which restaurant employees will enter and exit while taking customers’ orders and guiding drivers as their vehicles queue around the building.

Augusta employees are training to offer the new delivery method outside, and learning the store’s new layout and equipment inside, Powell said.

Augusta Chick-fil-A franchisee John Powell stands outside his restaurant at 3066 Washington Road in April 2022, just before it close for renovations.
Augusta Chick-fil-A franchisee John Powell stands outside his restaurant at 3066 Washington Road in April 2022, just before it close for renovations.

"The whole facility from the back of the house to the front of the house is new,” he said. “Our older store was, I think, 31 years old. We were just landlocked, and the newer equipment couldn’t fit in the small kitchen.”

To expand the Chick-fil-A, developers purchased the neighboring lot that contained a Mi Rancho Mexican restaurant. Mi Rancho was razed so Chick-fil-A could expand its indoor dining room to accommodate about 90 people, and include a larger patio that seats about 50 people, Powell said.

The reopening restaurant also is looking for more employees. The website cfaaugusta.com can lead visitors to instructions on how to apply for jobs.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta Chick-fil-A to reopen with door replacing drive-thru window