Tampa’s Newest Chick-fil-A restaurant opening Aug. 31, creating upwards of 80 new jobs

Opening includes unique Aug. 30 Road Trip celebration with up to 100 participants earning year supply of meals

TAMPA, Fla. (Aug. 31, 2017) – Franchise owner Carlos Brito opens Tampa’s newest Chick-fil-A restaurant on Aug. 31 and will celebrate with a special Aug. 30 grand opening Road Trip – transporting up to 100 participants on an interactive field trip around the area to earn a year supply of Chick-fil-A meals.

The new restaurant at 2551 N. Dale Mabry Hwy., will bring upwards of 80 new jobs to the area, provide the opportunity for the community to donate children’s books to benefit Tampa Bay Blvd. Elementary School.

Chick-fil-A Road Trip Celebration

Chick-fil-A’s First 100 campouts have given away more than $31 million in free food through 2016 and continue to be the chain’s signature event to celebrate the opening of a new location. However, this Chick-fil-A grand opening celebration will not involve any overnight activities. Instead, up to 100 eligible participants, 18 years and older, can start gathering shortly before 6 a.m. on Aug. 30 to register and immediately participate in the grand opening event.

Designed to be an impactful experience on many levels, the First 100 Road Trip will take participants around the Tampa area on a chartered bus while spending approximately 11 hours being engaged in activities that will provide opportunities to get up and move as well as positively impact the community through acts of service. The group will return to the new Tampa Stadium restaurant around 4 p.m. to continue the celebration which will include dinner and participants being awarded with a digital offer card loaded with a one-year supply of free Chick-fil-A meals (52 meals with each consisting of a Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich, medium Waffle Potato Fries and a medium beverage).

Registration will be held at the restaurant that morning from 6 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. or until 100 eligible participants are reached, whichever comes first. If more than 100 people are onsite when the line opens at 6 a.m. on Aug. 30, a drawing will be held to randomly select 100 guests who will participate in the event which will last until around 5 p.m. The event is open to guests residing in specific zip codes surrounding the restaurant. A list of eligible zip codes and event rules can be found at https://thechickenwire.chick-fil-a.com/News/Future-Openings.

About Franchise Operator Carlos Brito

Brito, who continues to hire full- and part-time positions at his restaurant, fell in love with the diversity, culture and community of Tampa during his travels to the MacDill Air Force Base while serving in the U.S. Air Force for eight years. His higher education includes receiving a master’s of human service counseling from Regent University.

Brito’s pursuit of Chick-fil-A started in 2001 but was delayed more than 13 years for family reasons and to serve his country, which included living in nine different cities during that time. Once he determined to move forward 100 percent, his efforts included spending more than nine months working at the Chick-fil-A at Ramsey Street in Fayetteville, N.C., following an intense study for the past decade of the company’s leadership, philosophy and its brand. With a passion for travel and running, Brito will be supported by his wife, Shalon, who will serve as his restaurant marketing director and his two children.

“I didn’t let the fact that Chick-fil-A receives some 27,000 applications annually for approximately 100 Operator opportunities stop me from pursuing my dream of becoming one of them,” said Brito. “My team and I are excited to be part of the expansion efforts around serving the Tampa community by providing freshly prepared food served with warm hospitality to create a remarkable experience for each guest within our restaurant as well as in our communities.”

Children’s Book Drive

Reflecting his desire to have an immediate positive impact on the surrounding community, Brito is inviting his Road Trip participants and restaurant guests to celebrate the new location by participating in a children’s book drive benefitting Tampa Bay Blvd. Elementary, which will receive the books Aug. 31, during the 9 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony. New and gently used books can be dropped off at the new location during grand opening week. The donated books will be placed in a nearly 3-foot Book House, built from reclaimed wood, to serve as a free library exchange. Since 2014, Chick-fil-A has collected more than 47,497 books that have been donated to 265 local organizations in 43 states and Washington, D.C.

Restaurant Details

The 5,900-square-foot Tampa Stadium Chick-fil-A restaurant features a:

· heritage restaurant interior design that showcases handmade, authentic materials for a vintage-inspired interior, including a large gathering table made from reclaimed wood, subway tiles, and a light fixture made from recycled Coca-Cola bottles.

· two-story interactive indoor play area for children and free Wi-Fi.

· dining room with seating for 102 and additional outdoor seating for 26.

· Chick-fil-A One mobile ordering parking spot and dual drive-thru ordering lanes and screens to enable customers to move quickly into a single lane for payment and pickup.

· full-service menu, with a variety of healthy and dietary options and breakfast until 10:30 a.m., and will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday. All Chick-fil-A locations are closedon Sunday to provide a day of rest and time with family for team members.

Chick-fil-A in Florida

The Tampa Stadium Chick-fil-A restaurant is the fifth of six locations scheduled to open in Central Florida since January with the last one on Sept. 14, in Clermont off U.S. Hwy. 27. Florida’s first Chick-fil-A restaurant opened in 1971 at the Cordova Mall in Pensacola. A total of 117 new Chick-fil-A locations are expected to open this year across the country, creating nearly 10,000 new jobs. More information about the new restaurant can be found atwww.facebook.com/cfatampastadium / twitter: @cfatampastadium / IG: @cfatampastadium.

About Chick-fil-A, Inc.

Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A, Inc. is a family owned and privately held restaurant company founded in 1967 by S. Truett Cathy. Devoted to serving the local communities in which its franchised restaurants operate, and known for its original chicken sandwich, Chick-fil-A serves freshly prepared food in more than 2,200 restaurants in 46 states and Washington, D.C. Chick-fil-A system sales reached nearly $8 billion in 2016, which marks 49 consecutive years of sales growth. In 2017, Chick-fil-A received the top score among fast food brands and one of the top 10 scores overall for customer experience in the Temkin Experience Ratings survey. In 2016, Chick-fil-A was named the Technomic Consumer’s Choice for “providing value through service,” named the “the most polite restaurant in the country” in QSR Magazine’s annual drive-thru report and was the only restaurant brand named to the Top 10 “Best Companies to Work For” by 24/7 Wall Street. More information on Chick-fil-A is available at www.chick-fil-a.com.