Sawyer Heights welcomes new Chick-fil-A

The newest Houston-area stand-alone Chick-fil-A opened in Sawyer Heights April 19, with the first 100 adults in line at the grand opening presented with a free year's supply of food from the restaurant.

The "First 100 Celebration" became a hallmark of each store's grand opening after an event in Arizona in 2003. Since then, more than $16 million in free food has been given at grand openings. The line at the new 2222 Shearn St. location opened at 6 a.m.

The location will accommodate dine in, drive-through and catering orders and is one of the 92 locations across the country planned for opening in 2012. Chick-fil-A has continued to grow despite a lagging economy, reporting record-setting annual sales of more than $4 billion in 2011.

"We are thrilled to follow up a very exciting 2011 where we saw the opening of our 1,000th stand-alone restaurant with continued growth across the country this year," said Dan T. Cathy, president and COO, Chick-fil-A, Inc, in a press release. "Our outstanding franchised Operators and their team members provide both the freshly prepared food and excellent service on both sides of the counter that has our customers asking us to bring Chick-fil-A closer to where they live.  In fact, the team at Sawyer Heights will be glad to provide a 'Backstage Tour' of the new location to restaurant guests."

Drew Ellis will run the Sawyer Heights restaurant as franchised operator. He has more than six years of experience and is transferring from the Chick-fil-A at Baytown.

"Chick-fil-A has come a long way since Truett opened that first tiny Chick-fil-A restaurant in an Atlanta mall 45 years ago, but one thing has remained constant – our focus on providing top quality food in a friendly neighborhood environment," said Ellis in the release. "My team members and I share that same commitment at our new Sawyer Heights restaurant and can't wait to welcome and serve our new guests."

Hours for the new restaurant are from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with a full breakfast menu available until 10:30 a.m.