BYU’s Dining Services has announced Chick-fil-A will join the lineup of dining outlets in the Cougareat.
The announcement was made at the annual Campus Showcase event for faculty held in the Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center on Wednesday.
Dining Services Director Dean Wright said the time frame for Chick-fil-A’s opening is not yet known.
“We don’t know any exact dates. We just thought we would do (the campus showcase) to let the faculty know what our plans are and it has been received, I think, very well,” Wright said.
Dining Services has been collecting feedback from students and others over the past two years to find out what they would like to see in the campus food court. “In all of our student focus groups Chick-fil-A has come out to be the number-one requested franchise,” Wright said.
Some remodeling is needed to make room for the new outlet. “We don’t know any construction details yet but the plan is that Tomassito’s will be gone,” Wright said. “We will probably take Tomassito’s and blend it with one of our other locations so that we don’t lose anything.”
Other popular franchises have done quite well in the Cougareat. Wright confirmed rumors about the success of the Cougareat’s Subway. “We have received on a number of occasions the chairman of the board’s award for being number one in the world for stand-alone Subways,” Wright said.
Wright said proximity to other franchises and other restrictions can keep some restaurants from opening on campus. There is, however, the possibility for more changes in the future.
Though only faculty and staff are admitted to the Campus Showcase, both students and faculty happily anticipate the coming changes.
“I’m so excited,” Ann Sumsion, academic advisor for information systems, said after eating a sample at the Chick-fil-A booth.
“I really love Chick-fil-A and really love Chick-fil-A breakfast,” said nutritional science major Brent Woodland, “but I think it will be super packed.”
