(Updated at 11:15 a.m.) To help mark the start of construction on the new Crystal City Chick-fil-A, a groundbreaking ceremony (or, in the chain’s parlance, a ground ‘mooving’ ceremony) was held at 10:30 this morning outside 2200 Crystal Drive. Local leaders and the famous Chick-fil-A cow were on hand for the event.
Since the restaurant will be located on the ground floor of an existing office building, the gathered leaders donned hard hats and shoveled some plush cow toys in a park across the street.
From a company press release:
Projected to open in November, the restaurant will bring upward of 65 new jobs to the area and will feature a full breakfast, lunch and dinner menu.
“There’s lots of excitement about Chick-fil-A opening in Crystal City, and we’re delighted to welcome them to our great line up of restaurants,” said Patrick Tyrrell, Chief Operating Officer of Vornado/Charles E. Smith (the store’s landlord).
With the company having researched locations in the area since 2004, the Crystal City restaurant provides an opportunity for the chain to be a part of the Crystal City streetscape pedestrian traffic. The Chick-fil-A restaurant also is conveniently located to mass transit and the Pentagon.
The 3,683 square-foot restaurant will seat up to 81 people. It’s owned by a franchisee and mother of four, Natalie Yang, who is moving from Georgia to run the restaurant.
Like all Chick-Fil-A restaurants, the Crystal City location will be closed on Sunday. Before the store opens in November, there will be a dedication dinner to “dedicate the store to the Lord,” said Steve Mason, the company’s vice president of operations.
Mason and Yang participated in the ceremonial stuffed animal shoveling, along with Vornado’s Tyrrell, Crystal City Business Improvement District President Angela Fox, and the cow.
