Popular Viera fast-food restaurant to close temporarily for renovations

Fast-food chicken fans in Suntree and South Viera will have to find their sandwiches, nuggets, biscuits and waffle fries elsewhere, at least for the next few months.

The uber-busy Chick-fil-A Viera at 8300 N. Wickham Road will close temporarily on Aug. 24 for renovations and updates. The work is expected to continue through November.

"We will be making overall improvements to the drive-thru, kitchen and restaurant interior to better and more efficiently serve our guests," said Mike Urso, owner and operator of the restaurant, which opened on July 23, 2009.

In 2019, Chick-fil-A was the third largest fast-food chain in the United States by sales, according to Business Insider, with McDonald's and Starbucks coming in first and second. But at the intersection of Wickham Road and Sheriff Drive, the Chick-fil-A drive-thru line frequently is double and triple that of the nearby McDonald's, with cars backed up into the Wickham Road turn lane.

Urso said the remodel should alleviate some of that congestion.

"Regarding the drive-thru, we will be adding a Mobile Thru Lane, allowing guests who order via the app to pick up their orders via the drive-thru," he said via email. "We will also be relocating our drive-thru to help reduce traffic on Wickham Road."

One casualty of the renovation will be the children's indoor play area.

"The drive-thru expansion will impact our dining room, so we are transforming the playground area into additional seating for our guests," Urso said.

Urso explained the decision further in an Aug. 11 post on the restaurant's Facebook page: "I want the community to know I feel your frustration. I have many personal memories of my kids playing in there as many of you do and am sad to see the playground go from the restaurant. However, our restaurant design experts know what is needed to build a successful restaurant for today and for tomorrow and I am confident that this remodel is the best solution for the restaurant."

Chick-fil-A Viera currently employs about 100 people. To ensure full-time team members will keep their jobs, Urso said he plans to expand the hours of the Eastern Florida State College location on the Melbourne campus, which he also owns. Pop-up concessions around town also are in the works, "to ensure we can both continue to serve our community and provide steady jobs for our team members. Some of our team members will have the opportunity to transfer to other Chick-fil-A restaurants in the community and even support grand openings of other Chick-fil-A’s around the country."

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Urso got into the Chick-fil-A business after becoming a father.

"I’m a drummer by trade and became a band director after college," he said. "I was teaching band and my new wife, Allison, was teaching voice at the same school. We loved life and thought this would be our path forever."

He started looking for a new job so Allison could stay home with the children.

"I applied everywhere I could think of from Wal-Mart to the police to everything in between, but nothing panned out," Urso said. "The school’s spring concert was coming up so all the parents could see how much their students grew instrumentally during the year, and I was reintroduced to the parents of one of my sixth-grade students, who happened to own a Chick-fil-A. I didn’t know much about the brand, but I studied up and read the book by our founder, Truett Cathy. I began working for Chick-fil-A shortly after and three years later was selected as a franchise operator."

Chick-fil-A consistently lands at the top of the American Customer Satisfaction Index for fast-food restaurants, a distinction it's held for nine years in a row.

Urso said that's because franchise operators and team members are committed to providing exceptional service, which starts at the top.

Visit the drive-thru on the hottest or rainiest day of the year, and chances are you'll see Urso outside with his employees, passing food through car windows.

"We teach this to every new team member at orientation," he said. “'You will never be asked to do something we aren’t willing to do ourselves.' It falls under our Core Value of Servant Leadership. The key to building a great team comes from cultivating a culture you want and protecting it at all costs."

For updates on the renovations, follow Chick-fil-A Viera on Facebook at facebook.com/cfaviera.

Suzy Fleming Leonard is a features journalist with more than three decades of experience. Reach her at sleonard@floridatoday.com. Find her on Facebook: @SuzyFlemingLeonard or on Instagram: @SuzyLeonard. 

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Chick-fil-A Viera will be closed through November for a remodel