If someone says the word “chicken,” what is the first restaurant that comes to your head? If you are thinking about Chick-fil-A right now, then surely you have heard the news about the Chick-fil-A in Beaver Creek. From March 1 to April 15, the Beaver Creek area in Apex is left without the sweet delicacy of Chick-fil-A chicken. With such a great restaurant being at a place of high convenience, Chick-fil-A brought in lots of customers and left them happy and satisfied. This next month of their absence is sure to bring a load of devastation to their daily customers for as people are already becoming enraged by their closing.

Many students here at Apex High are very upset about the temporary removal of Chick-fil-A. After asking people’s opinion on the Chick-fil-A tragedy, I found many students who were rather outraged about the situation at hand. Junior Madison McDonald said, “My bank account used to constantly be around ten dollars, and now I have so much money because I’m not spending it all on Chick-fil-A. I am too lazy to go all the way out to the other Chick-fil-A’s so I’m kind of going on a month-long, Chick-fil-A free diet. I eat Chick-fil-A so much that at first I was experiencing withdrawals. I would wake up with headaches because I didn’t have any Chick-fil-A. I knew pretty much everyone that worked at that Chick-fil-A. I am actually dating one of the employees, and I am such good friends with all the people there (begins to name half the employees that work at Chick-fil-A). I am devastated that they are remodeling because they didn’t need to; they were already perfect.”

Another rather passionate individual about Chick-fil-A’s closing was junior Janelle Serfontein. When asked how she felt about the closing of Chick-fil-A, she said, “I am so mad! I used to go there every single day; that used to be like my home. I used to go there like twice a day or maybe six days out of the week. It makes me really sad because now I have to drive all the way out to the Chick-fil-A at Cornerstone for lunch, which is a lot further, and the line is longer because everyone is there. Now we can’t get Chick-fil-A everyday, which is upsetting because I really like their milkshakes. Also, I have a Chick-fil-A rewards account and everytime I go there I can scan my card and get points. Since I used to go so much, I had a lot of points, but now I don’t go as much anymore, so I don’t have as many points anymore. Also the people at Cornerstone Chick-fil-A are not nice, and the food doesn’t taste the same to me. I used to walk into the Chick-fil-A in Beaver Creek, and the lady at the register would always greet me with my order, but at the other Chick-fil-A they take forever because they don’t know what my order is. Altogether, my heart is broken that they closed, and I want them to reopen so badly.”

Although Chick-fil-A’s disappearance is deemed rather heartbreaking, they will return shortly along with many improvements to their facility. Upcoming upgrades are expected to include a bigger parking lot and a bigger building. This larger building is expected to be expanded to provide more space in not only the kitchen but also the overall dining area. There will be efforts made to create an improved drive-thru which will allow faster and more efficient customer services, especially during those lunch-time rushes. The interior will be remodeled with all white floor tiles, along with the installment of a bartop. Aside from how the building will look, Chick-fil-A is also expected to change their selection of soft drinks into one that has not yet been revealed.  Overall, there are lots of new things to be excited about when Chick-fil-A returns to us in April.

To wrap things up, the closing of Chick-fil-A has caused quite the disturbance in the Apex community. However, there are many other great restaurants one can enjoy besides Chick-fil-A. If you are simply craving chicken, why not stop by Bojangles? Looking for burgers? Try a Wendy’s. Both Chipotle and Moe’s are great locations if one is seeking some Tex-Mex cuisine, and those looking for something a little less mainstream should check out either Panera or Tropical Smoothie. Anyone who may be interested in Chick-fil-A’s working process or potential sneak peeks of what else is to come, should check out their Facebook page @apexcfa. Everybody, set your calendars for April 15 because this is the day we will all be able to “Eat Mor Chikin!”