JACKSON, Tenn. — Dec. 19, 2014 — Chick-fil-A is coming to 51社区 for the spring semester of 2015.
The national restaurant chain has reached an agreement with the university and with Aramark, the company that operates Union鈥檚 dining services, to open a restaurant on campus in the Student Union Building where the Lexington Inn has operated for several years.
Gary Carter, Union鈥檚 senior vice president for business services, said the space will be completely remodeled (an expense that Aramark is covering) and that the university expects the new Chick-fil-A restaurant to be operational by the first week of February when the spring semester begins.
鈥淭his was done to serve students,鈥� Carter said. 鈥淲e wanted to enhance the food service experience at Union, and we knew Chick-fil-A would be quickly embraced by our students.鈥�
Carter said students鈥� current meal plans would be adapted to accommodate the new restaurant. Residential students are currently required to purchase a 100-meal plan at the cost of $795 per semester. One option being considered, Carter said, would be to reduce that requirement to 85 meals, with students then having a certain amount of dollars available on their meal cards to use at the Chick-fil-A.
The new Chick-fil-A would likely get more patronage from graduate students, evening students, faculty and staff than the Lexington Inn does, Carter said.
Some current Aramark employees have been trained by Chick-fil-A and will serve as the operators of the new restaurant. Carter said the menu would probably not include everything at a full-service Chick-fil-A but that the restaurant would expand its hours of operation from what the Lexington Inn offered.