Chick-Fil-A Plans To Open Its First Restaurant Within Boston City Limits

Chick-Fil-A Plans To Open Its First Restaurant Within Boston City Limits

Chick-fil-A is a fast food staple in the south, but after a notorious run-in with Boston's beloved late mayor, Tom Menino, many believed the Back Bay would never get the chance to experience their addictive fried chicken sandwiches and waffle fries.

However, with a new mayor in town, the chain has confirmed they are scouting out a specific spot for Boston's very first Chick-fil-A within the city limits.

“We are always looking for new opportunities to serve Massachusetts customers and are excited about the prospect of joining the Back Bay neighborhood,” Amanda Hannah, external communications at Chick-fil-A, Inc., said in a statement. “While we are still early in the approval process, we can confirm that we are pursuing a location at 569 Boylston St.”

The company first contacted Back Bay Association, Meg Mainzer-Cohen over the summer.

“They said that they wanted to move to Back Bay and were interested in a site on Boylston Street,” Mainzer-Cohen told Boston.com. “When I realized the [exact] spot, I felt like it was the ideal location for it. There are other similar fast food places [in the area]. Burger King, Wendy’s is there, and it’s right across the street from Copley Square.”

But don't start planning your order just yet.

Mainzer-Cohen says it could take up to a year for Chick-fil-A to obtain licensing, meet with the city and the Back Bay Architectural Commission, and prepare the location for opening.

The chicken joint landed on Mayor Menino's bad side when conservative CEO Dan Cathy spoke out against same-sex marriage rights in 2012, making the following statement to the Baptist Press:

“We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.”

In response, Menino vowed to block Chick-fil-A from opening locations within Boston city limits.

The closest restaurant is currently located in Dedham, with the company planning a store opening in Methuen for the end of November.

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