The University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s new Chick-fil-A has opened after much anticipation for the popular restaurant. Though it shares almost all of the same qualities of off-campus locations there are some small changes that might stand out to students and staff.
Pat Mould, director of retail food and beverage operations at UL Lafayette, explained that the new Chick-fil-A was brought to campus through our food provider, Sodexo and is completely operated by them.
“Most of all the stores you see out on the street are corporate owned stores. Okay, so, Sodexo licensed Chick-fil-A to come to campus […] it’s run by Sodexo employees, Sodexo managers run it, so it’s really a Sodexo operation.”
Patrons might notice a slight change in the prices at the new Chick-fil-A. These prices can range from a 10 to 30 cent increase, depending on the item. Mould said the reason for the slight uptick in prices is so Sodexo can pay fees to the Chick-fil-A corporate office.
“Since Sodexo is […] kind of like a franchisee, there’s franchise fees. To the best of my knowledge, the pricing is very similar to the street pricing. Yeah, there’s probably going to be a slight increase, but it’s going to be nominal, because Sodexo is having to pay fees.”
The payment process at the new Chick-fil-A also appears different from other on-campus restaurants. The food delivery service Grubhub can be seen at the very top of receipts and the logo is seen in various spots inside the actual restaurant along with three Grubhub kiosks patrons can use to order their meals.
When asked about the change in the payment process, Mould said Chick-fil-A and Grubhub are partners, so paying through Grubhub was a requirement for the on-campus Chick-fil-A made by their corporation.
“The Grubhub system […] was a requirement of Chick-fil-A. They use that system throughout their stores. That’s the system they feel works best for them, and that’s the system […] Sodexo is required to use. ”
Soon, Chick-fil-A won’t be the only restaurant to use Grubhub to process payments. Mould said the plan is to have the other restaurants on campus, like Starbucks and Smoothie King, use Grubhub in their payment and ordering process as well.
Despite the high anticipation for the restaurant, a soft opening was implemented in lieu of heavy promotion. This choice was made to lessen the rush of traffic for the workers at Chick-fil-A, so as not to overwhelm them.
“A soft opening allows people to just trickle in, and the staff to kind of get their bearings and get their feet under them, you know. So that’s why you don’t really promote […] usually with a soft opening the word gets out,” Mould said.
Even with a soft opening, UL students were eager about the opening of Chick-fil-A, with the number of students coming through the restaurant increasing each day.
“The first day was […] three or 400 people. Then it was 600 people, and then it was 900 and then, like I said, the other day, they served 1200 people.”
Joie Dural, a freshman kinesiology major, explained what she noticed overall about the new Chick-fil-A is the ease of having kiosks that are provided by Grubhub.
“It’s pretty nice. The kiosks, […] I think they are nice because I’ve been avoiding going in there because I don’t feel like going up and talking to them, and so when I saw that was in there I was like okay I like that.”
Keldon Johnson, a sophomore moving image arts major, appreciated the convenience of the location but is concerned about the ratio of staff to an ever increasing number of students.
“I think having it in the student union is pretty convenient. Of course, since it’s new everybody has got to get adjusted to it because it’s a lot of students and only a little bit of them.”
Marissa Davenport, a freshman majoring in anthropology, described how, even with the aid of the kiosks, her experiences at Chick-fil-A were chaotic and unappealing.
“It’s just a lot of extra work to get my food and it’s a lot of chaos that I would rather not have to deal with. The chaos is not worth the price.”
Though it’s in a new location, Chick-fil-A is not new to UL Lafayette’s campus.
There was a Chick-fil-A Express in the Agnes Edwards Food Court before it closed down for its updated replacement.
The biggest difference between the old and new Chick-fil-A is the amount of menu items on each. The new Chick-fil-A is fully operational, serving breakfast and lunch/dinner options, while the older one only sold certain items from the menu.
UL Lafayette’s Chick-fil-A is located in the Student Union, at 600 McKinley St.. Its hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and closed on Sunday.