New UES Chick-Fil-A Opens This Month As Delivery, Pick-Up Only Concept

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — These birds are not trained to roost.

The much-anticipated Chick-Fil-A at 1534 Second Ave., between East 79th and 80th streets, is set to open on March 21, and it will be the first of its stores in the city to exclusively offer mobile app pick-up and delivery only.

Chick-Fil-A calls the store the first of "two innovative, digital-focused test concepts the restaurant is opening," with the other being a mobile drive-thru only restaurant in Atlanta, GA.

“At Chick-fil-A, we are always looking for ways to innovate and enhance the Guest experience,” said Nathaniel Cates, principal design lead for Chick-fil-A, Inc, in a press release Wednesday. “While digital concepts are becoming more prevalent, it’s important that we evolve in a uniquely Chick-fil-A way – meeting the changing needs of our customers without compromising the signature service and care they’ve grown to know and love.”

The restaurant will be run by the same franchisee of the nearby Third Avenue and East 86th Street location, Jared Caldwell, and will rely on a system of digital geofencing in an attempt to perfectly time order preparation with the customer's arrival.

Even a year ago, before many details were known, residents from the next door condo building — which does not own the ground-floor retail space — were already sounding the alarm that the troubles from the store just a half mile away may follow to the new location, including worries about rats and delivery workers overwhelming the sidewalks.

"The Board had absolutely no involvement whatsoever in vetting or approving any proposed tenant along 2nd Avenue," an email sent from the condo board last year read. "Chick-fil-A is a state of the art operation that takes each of these concerns very seriously."

The Third Avenue Chick-Fil-A has been a constant headache for neighbors since it opened, prompting the franchise owner to testify in front of the local Community Board multiple times, according to Upper East Site.

Delivery workers waiting for orders from the bustling fast food chain clog the sidewalks and streets with bikes and mopeds, a problem that has yet to be resolved nearly five years since its opening.

Chick-Fil-A is taking over the former home of children's clothing shop, Lester's.