AURORA | It’s like a cult. Thousands of fans across the country travel long distances to seek out new Chick-fil-A stores, hoping to win a year’s worth of free signature chicken sandwiches.
“We would go as far as Utah,” Dustin Weist said in front of his own tent.
Weist and his college friends who drove down from Colorado State University whole-heartedly agree. Nathan Currier and Andrew Murff joined Weist for the journey to Colorado’s newest Chick-fil-A restaurant, which opens Thursday in Aurora inside the Gateway Park area at 3444 Salida St.
The group joined 94 other hardy faithful camping out in the fast-food parking lot which after tomorrow will be filled with cars. They’re determined to win the free grub.
The parking lot on Wednesday looked more like Weist’s college campus than a chain-restaurant parking lot. Colorful tents dotted the lot and dozens of people were tossing footballs, rolling Yahtzee dice and performing card tricks.
Chick-Fil-A offers 52 free meals per person for the first 100 people that get to their new restaurant at 6 a.m. the day before the restaurants grand opening.
Matt Meadors, an Ohio resident, was also in the parking lot braving Tuesday’s snow and another night expected to flirt with freezing temperatures. Meadors’ son Mark is stationed at Buckley Air Force Base. Meadors was bringing down personal items to Mark from Ohio. But it was no coincidence that the opening happened during his visit to Colorado with his son. Matt planned the trip around the opening.