Florida A&M's food management company is preparing to bring a Chick-Fil-A-branded restaurant to campus. Students are anxiously awaiting its arrival, and some are already planning how they will spend their lunch money. The restaurant is scheduled to open in the second week of October.
Director of Business and Auxiliary at Metz Byron Williams surveyed students about their preferred dining options. Starbucks and Chick-Fil-A were the top two.
Williams said Chick-Fil-A will be worth the wait.
“It appeals to a wide variety of students, staff, faculty and even children,” said Williams, adding that Chick-Fil-A's arrival could herald other such big name restaurants to campus.
D.A. Robin/The Famuan;
09/21/2014
@ The Orange Room
A worker leaves the still-under-construction Orange Room at Florida A&M Sunday after testing the lock on the door. The Orange Room, long known as a popular student dining location, has been closed for weeks as Metz Culinary Management prepares to open a Chick-Fil-A-branded restaurant. The restaurant is scheduled to open on the second week of October.
Kyrik Gaines, a first-year music industry student, said he is very disappointed the restaurant didn't beat him to campus.
“I haven’t had Chick-Fil-A since I left Miami, and I’m going through serious withdrawal,” he said. “I’m still waiting for the camera crew and Ashton Kutcher to appear and tell me that I just got 'Punk’d.'”
The university's Orange Room has been closed for remodeling. A portion of The Commons, a shared study and classroom space, has been annexed to make room for the restaurant.
Johnae Royster, a second-year nursing student from Virginia, said she is excited for the grand opening of Chick-Fil-A.
“I have been very cautious on my usage of my meal plan because I’m saving for Chick-Fil-A,” Royster said. “Just to see FAMU actually getting such a notable restaurant on campus makes me realize how rapidly my University is expanding.”
The new campus Chick-Fil-A will be serving a reduced version of the restaurant's full menu, according to information reaching The Famuan. The restaurant will begin service at 11 a.m.
An earlier version of this story referred to the campus restaurant as serving "much from the restaurant's full menu." The Famuan was later told this information misrepresents the size and variety of the upcoming menu. The Famuan apologizes for the error.