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The battle of the crispy chicken sandwiches heats up as Chick-fil-A announces the development of three new restaurants in New Orleans, the hometown of their major competitor Popeyes.
According to Eater, plans for the first stand-alone location of Chick-fil-A in New Orleans were announced last week, and now two more locations are in the works. The first location will open in Algiers on the city's West Bank, while the chain and its partnering developer have sought approval for a drive-thru-only location in Mid-City, and another restaurant downtown.
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These aren't the first Chick-fil-A restaurants in New Orleans. The city has two pedestrian-only locations on the campuses of Xavier University and the University of New Orleans, and a drive-thru location in the suburbs. But the addition of multiple new locations of the restaurant has some residents expressing disapproval for the development and voicing support for Popeyes, the local favorite which originated in NOLA and currently operates 20 locations in the city and the surrounding areas.
"They better not put it close to a @PopeyesChicken , cause they'll get their asses kicked," said Twitter user @WoodlinBurdell. While for some it's about loyalty to Popeyes and its chicken, others disapprove of Chick-fil-A's moral values, like its anti-LGBTQ stance which is well-documented. "They can keep bland ass bigot chicken out in the suburbs where it belongs," said @fyoushoresy, while @RevMelanieNOLA agrees, "Nobody with half a brain in the NOLA area is gonna eat at Chick-Fil-A. They have a terrible social justice record on both race and homophobia. That Sidney is gonna own one is just icing on the boycott cake."
This isn't the first time Chick-fil-A hasn't been welcome in a city. In 2012, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino vowed to block the chain's attempts at opening a location in his city due to their financial contributions to anti-LGBTQ organizations. Similarly, the state of Vermont still doesn't have a single Chick-fil-A location, possibly due to a legal battle the chain had waged against one of their own.
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