Diners in San Juan, in the Rio Grande Valley, are one step closer to being able to “eat more chiken” as construction of the city’s first-ever Chick-Fil-A restaurant nears completion.
The Monday-through-Saturday chicken chain is going up at a new retail plaza called the Shops at Chavez located across the street from one of the Valley’s most popular pulgas, or flea markets, called the Alamo Mercadome. And last week, the San Juan Economic Development Corporation (EDC) took to Facebook to post a sneak peek of what the restaurant looks like so far.
“From the outdoor seating area to the indoor play area, things are coming together as they prepare to welcome the San Juan community! Stay tuned, we can’t wait to share more updates as opening day gets closer,” it further reads.
The photographs show picnic tables and chairs arranged in a seating area outside, as well as a window cling of a cartoon cow beckoning future patrons into the indoor play area. Another photograph shows the play equipment partially assembled. And outside, a sign reads “Welcome friends and neighbors.”
The San Juan Chick-Fil-A is being built along the westbound side of Interstate 2 and Cesar Chavez Road — the busy north-south thoroughfare that serves as the dividing line between the cities of San Juan and Alamo. On the west side of Cesar Chavez lies the under-construction Chick-Fil-A and the Shops at Chavez, a 100,000-square-foot retail plaza that will one day house a Burlington, Ross Dress For Less, dd’s DISCOUNTS and Boot Barn, according to online commercial real estate marketplace, LoopNet.
On the east side of Cesar Chavez, the Alamo pulga sprawls across 70 acres of land filled with hundreds of vendor stalls and a dance hall that has launched local personalities, like Bronco956, into meme-worthy fame online.
San Juan city leaders first announced the coming Chick-Fil-A last summer. At the time, Mayor Maria Garza hailed it as “big news” for the city of about 35,000 people.
In the EDC’s follow-up post last Tuesday, San Juan residents expressed their enthusiasm for the soon to be opened restaurant, and especially its family-friendly playground.
“Yayyy I’ve been manifesting this for so long lol,” Mariza Vallejo commented on the EDC’s post with a laughing emoji. “Hate having to drive to Pharr my special needs boy love love the nuggets,” she added.
But others lamented how they’ll be unable to enjoy the food after shopping at the pulga on Sundays, one of the flea market’s busiest days, which is also the day that Chick-Fil-A — founded by devout Southern Baptist businessman S. Truett Cathy — remains closed.
“The only sad thing is that on Sunday we’re all just going to be staring at Chick Fil A from the flea market,” a resident named Felicia Decors commented.