Who’s hungry? Woodburn Chick-fil-A set to open next month

Published 1:00 pm Monday, November 25, 2024

Woodburn locals will soon be eating more chicken, as Chick-fil-A Inc. has announced that the new Woodburn Chick-fil-A will open Thursday, Dec. 5.

The predominantly drive-thru Chick-fil-A will be open 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, located at 300 S. Woodland Ave. at the southeast corner of Oregon Highway 219.

The restaurant will serve breakfast in the morning as well as its usual all-day menu of fried chicken sandwiches, nuggets, fries, shakes, salads and sides.

According to Chick-fil-A Inc., the Woodburn location will create 100 full and part-time jobs in the community.

Upon opening, the new location will honor 100 “local Woodburn heroes” with free entrees for a year and will also be participating in the Chick-fil-A Shared Table program, which redirects surplus food from the restaurant to local soup kitchens, shelters, food banks and nonprofits in need.

While some Woodburn locals are rejoicing over the new Chick-fil-A, many have expressed concern over the possible traffic the restaurant will bring. The fried chicken fast food chain is known for being immensely popular, so Woodburn planning officials have been focused on how the business intends to manage traffic at its shop.

“We have a lot of conditions of approval we put on it, and (our) concerns were making sure that they get passed. As you know, there are huge lines and queues there, so we made sure that their traffic analysis wasn’t based on a standard fast food restaurant,” said Woodburn Community Development Director Chris Kerr in October.

Kerr said that instead of analyzing typical fast-food restaurant traffic patterns, the city had Chick-fil-A study five of its other restaurants to ensure that it would be able to accommodate all future customers’ vehicles at this new location.

Following this research, Woodburn Chick-fil-A adjusted its site plan to accommodate 46 cars waiting in line at the drive-thru.

Drive-thru capacity will be necessary, as the Woodburn Chick-fil-A will cater mostly to those in cars. There will be limited outdoor seating and a small outdoor counter to order food at, but no indoor seating or ordering area.

“Designed for speed and efficiency, this drive-thru-only location offers added convenience to serve guests through its dual drive-thru lanes, four walk-up windows for carry-out and patio seating that fits over 20 guests,” said Chick-fil-A Inc. in a written statement.