COVINGTON, Ga. — A new Chick-fil-A restaurant will soon be coming to the Covington Town Center on Alcovy Rd. 

Covington Chick-fil-A owner and operator Chris Giella confirmed the news Wednesday morning, saying that construction is set to begin June 5 with a projected November grand opening.  

It was a plan that had been in the making for quite some time, and Giella says he’s excited about the new opportunities the popular franchise’s latest location will provide.  

“We’ll have a chance to service a part of Covington that our main store on Highway 278 doesn’t get the chance to see,” Giella said. “That store there typically gets customers from 278 and downtown. This one will give us the chance to have customer interaction on the side of Covington that starts going back toward Jersey and Social Circle.” 

Additionally, with this new restaurant nestled in the midst of all the other new developments that come with the Town Center, Giella knows that it will likely keep his employees busy each day. 

“It’s going to be crazy there with just the expansion and all of the industry that’s coming over there,” he said. “Plus the movie theatre and whatever else gets built and developed over there in the next five years.” 

This particular restaurant will boast a more spacious ambiance for customers, with plans to make it “400 to 500 square feet larger than the downtown location,” Giella said. It’ll also be one of the first around to roll out a new service model that Giella says will give staff the opportunity to be more customer oriented, but also to wear less hats which should improve efficiency. 

“The concept will be that when you come into the restaurant, there’s going to be nothing but two registers and the menu,” he said. “Nothing on the counter, and all the guest service will come from the back.” 

Currently in most restaurants, there will be as many as four or five team members taking orders at registers. Those same team members also take on the tasks of bringing food out to those who are waiting, as well as checking on drink refills to those who are dining in. 

Geilla says that will change with this new design. 

“I think it’ll help with the customer service experience overall,” he said. “It’ll improve the focus of team members up front. They won’t have to wear so many hats. It’ll just be focusing on guests which should drive up order accuracy and helping us handle volume. That way the people who focus on customer service can just focus on customer service, and the people who focus on food prep and delivery can just focus in on that.” 

Giella said the drive-thru at the new restaurant will also looking noticeably bigger — “enormous,” actually is how he described it. It’ll come complete with two full service lanes and a third designated as a bypass lane. 

But the new spot isn’t the only one that will boast more space for customers in cars. Giella said the Chick-fil-A at Highway 278 is also slated for an outdoor renovation. 

“We'll be expanding the parking lot and drive-thru at that location as well,” he said. Those changes, he added, will likely happen either this year or next year. 

While the new bells and whistles may add intrigue to the customers’ dining experience, Giella says he’s just happy about how it’ll help his restaurants better serve the area. 

“It’s just really going to help us take care of Covington as we have always tried,” he said. “We have always wanted to be deeply involved in the community any way we can and help our community know we care about them through the way we serve them. This will just help ensure that we can do it better.”