Lexington’s newest Chick-fil-A could be the chain’s fastest drive-thru in the country
A new Chick-fil-A coming to Lexington’s north side will be unique when it opens later this year.
The location for the fast-food chicken chain will be one of the few in the country to have a new and faster drive-thru configuration, said David Hall, franchise owner.
Construction began recently on the newest Chick-fil-A restaurant in Lexington at 295 W. New Circle Rd. Plans were filed with the city in August 2020 for a new location in the former Jalapeno’s Mexican Restaurant, which was demolished in 2017.
Instead of two lanes for ordering, merging into one lane for food pick up, Hall said this will have two separate drive-thru lanes all the way.
“It should be faster,” he said. Chick-fil-A has consistently hit the top spot in drive-thru surveys in every category except speed, where it comes in well behind zippier competitor KFC.
To facilitate the drive-thru, the Chick-fil-A will have entrances off of New Circle Road as well as Russell Cave Road when it opens in late October, Hall said.
“The main entrance people will want to enter is the one off of Russell Cave,” he said.
Chick-fil-A is exploring the need for traffic control during the opening to prevent blocking New Circle, he said.
“We’re definitely very excited for the opportunity to be over there,” Hall said Wednesday. He said plans are still being finalized for the new restaurant’s grand opening.
Before the pandemic, new Chick-fil-A locations often allowed customers to camp out overnight for chances to win free chicken for a year. “Obviously in a COVID world, things are a little big different,” Hall said. Fans can follow social media for updates closer to the grand opening, he said.
The restaurant will begin hiring in early September, Hall said. They want to hire 100 to 120 people. Part-time workers will start at $10 an hour, full-time workers will start at $15 an hour.
This will be the city’s seventh or eighth location, depending on how you count the University of Kentucky spots and Hall said more could be coming.
