A drive-thru focused Chick-fil-A location will open in the Makiki area of Honolulu, Hawaii, July 27. The location, which does not provide dine-in services, will be operated by O’ahu-raised Zane Dydasco, and will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
According to a blog on the company’s website, the restaurant is custom designed to serve drive-thru guests via a dual-lane experience, though it will also include three walk-up windows for pedestrians. The restaurant will also offer third-party delivery “in the near future.”
Notably, this isn’t the first Chick-fil-A location without a dining room. The company has opened more than 30 drive-thru-only locations in the past several years as off-premises business has remained sticky. It also has digital-forward locations focused on catering and delivery in markets like Nashville.
The Honolulu restaurant will employ approximately 150 full- and part-time workers. Some of those employees will serve guests at the three walk-up windows, while others will welcome customers face-to-face in the drive-thru line to take orders on a tablet. As the order-taker walks the line, another restaurant employee will come to the customer’s car to take payment, allowing vehicles to move through more quickly than they do at a traditional speaker box drive-thru, according to the company.
Chick-fil-A partnered with clothing brands that design cooling vests and moisture-wicking uniforms to help employees withstand warm weather conditions.
As part of the grand opening celebration, Chick-fil-A is donating $25,000 to Hawai’i Foodbank, a member of Feeding America, and will provide free entrees for a year to 100 local health care workers.
“With family members in health care, I know how demanding the work can be to look after others, so I wanted to take a moment to recognize this hard-working community,” Dydasco said in a statement, adding, “As the local owner/operator of Chick-fil-A Makiki, I am so grateful for the opportunity to now show care for our team members, guests and a community that means so much to me, my wife Jenna and our three daughters.”
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]