Chick-Fil-A coming to Sunnyvale, only the second in Silicon Valley
- Nathan Donato-Weinstein
- Real Estate Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal
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The chicken-sandwich chain with a devoted following (and a penchant for attracting controversy), will open only its second South Bay location at 550 West El Camino Ave., where Beacon Lighting now stands. City building department records show demolition and building permits for a new 4,450-square-foot restaurant were issued May 6.
Chick-fil-A media reps didn't return several calls for comment, so I wasn't able to determine when the store would be ready.
But the new franchise is a sure sign the College Park, Georgia-based company is still looking to establish a stronger foothold here. Last year, the chain lost a battle to open a restaurant in Mountain View that was proposed for a Sizzler location at 1962 W. El Camino Real. According to news reports at the time, council members didn't want another drive-through fast food joint in town.
The chain's only existing restaurant in the area is in North San Jose's @First project, which just opened in 2012.
Chick-fil-A -- with its "Eat mor chikin" tagline -- has a hugely devoted following, mostly in the South, where the majority of its stores are. But it also attracted much controversy a couple years ago for reportedly using company funds to oppose same-sex marriage efforts. (There's a Wikipedia page on the whole kerfuffle, here.)
The news might not be as momentous as today's Super Bowl announcement. But we think it's still pretty significant. Evidently, local Chick-fil-A fans feel deprived. There's actually a Quora page titled, "Why does Chick-fil-A not have locations in the South Bay?" (Click here for the rundown.)
Nathan Donato-Weinstein covers commercial real estate and transportation for the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
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