ATLANTA — It’s official: Chick-fil-A has hopped the pond.
No word yet, though, if they’ll be serving sweet tea and crumpets.
The Atlanta-based chicken chain has opened a location in the United Kingdom. Business Insider first reported the development last week, with the restaurant confirming it had launched a "pilot licensed location” on Oct. 10 and that “we are pleased to have already served several hundred customers in our first day.”
The restaurant is open at a mall called The Oracle in Reading, a city about an hour-and-a-half west of London. It’s already drawing fans.
“Of all the places in the UK, @chickfila decided to open their first UK branch in my hometown – feeling blessed!” @simonwoodhouse wrote on Instagram.
Another Instagram user, @expatbridget, who described herself as an American living in Reading, wrote she was “over the moon to have @chickfila right here in Reading UK!”
“So much of homesickness is food & this place filled my heart tonight … we introduced friends to it already & can’t wait to host American meetups!”
Both users noted, however, that British Chick-fil-A is still a work in progress – there’s no spicy chicken on the menu.
It wasn't all positive, with a local newspaper reporting some backlash to the opening of the restaurant over the company's contentious history with the LGBT community.
"We understand and appreciate that people will have questions about our company and want to be clear that Chick-fil-A is a restaurant company focused on food, service and hospitality," the company told the newspaper, The Reading Chronicle. "We do not have a political or social agenda, and our brand is represented by more than 145,000 people from different backgrounds and beliefs.”
MORE CHICK-FIL-A NEWS