If you’ve been wondering how long you’ll have to wait until you can walk up to the counter and buy a sandwich at the Chick-fil-A under construction in North Riverside, wonder no longer.
The new fast-food restaurant on the southwest corner of Harlem Avenue and Cermak Road will open its doors with a ribbon-cutting and grand opening ceremony at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 27, said North Riverside Mayor Hubert Hermanek Jr. announced at the March 3 village board meeting.
Chick-fil-A will receive its certificate of occupancy this week, said Hermanek.
Of course, if you get to Chick-fil-A right at 6:30 a.m. on March 27, don’t expect to get to that counter right away. That’s because of a Chick-fil-A promotion called “First 100,” where the first 100 patrons at a grand opening win a free Chick-fil-A meal per week for an entire year.
There are rules that govern this process, of course, which can be obtained from the Chick-fil-A website — so many people would show up for the grand openings that in 2013 the company had to tighten up the process.
But the long and short of it is that anyone who wants to be part of the “First 100” can show up and get in line between 5:30 and 6 a.m. the day before the grand opening. That means Wednesday, March 26 in the case of North Riverside.
If more than 100 people show up, winners will be picked at random. Anyone chosen to be part of the “First 100” is then — following the signing of the requisite waivers and releases — invited to stay “in their designated spot” at the restaurant for the next 24 hours until the grand opening.
