The original chicken sandwich has arrived as the first full-service Chick-fil-A opened in Glen Carbon on Thursday, bringing customers to wait outside at 4 a.m. to be among the first at the new location. 

Chick-fil-A is the first building in the Orchard Town Center to open, bringing hundreds of customers to what is still a construction zone. Traffic lines are still not painted on the exit lanes and traffic lights were installed only a few days before. 

 “The traffic in Governors Parkway was not bad at all,” senior Lexi Trimm said. “The only issue was the traffic leaving EHS since we went right after school.” 

 The location of the business, and Orchard Town Center as a whole, has been a debate among people in Edwardsville for the past year. What used to be trees and nature is now a city development. 

 “I don’t like where and how it got out there as a bunch of trees and habitat for the wildlife around Edwardsville is important,” senior Ellie Bozarth said. “I don’t like that they got cut down, but I do however think Edwardsville needed [a Chik-fil-A] and has needed one for a long time.” 

 The long-awaited restaurant has brought in more than a hundred new jobs, as reported by The Intelligencer. Some of those jobs belong to EHS students like junior Austin Budwell. 

 “I wanted to join CFA after meeting the building owner Philip Brunner,” Budwell said. “He is one of the nicest employers I have ever met and prioritizes his employees. He encourages us through everything we do.” 

Brunner and his family started with Chick-fil-A in Tennessee and then came to Edwardsville, according to the official Edwardsville Chick-fil-A Facebook page. Brunner and his family were there on opening day to greet customers and help staff. 

 “Today was the first day for everyone, so it was a little stressful, but everyone did amazing,” Budwell said. “The line moved very quickly, and everyone left with a smile on their face.” 

There were a lot of people to pile into the new Chick-fil-A, even though Edwardsville technically already had a partial-service location inside SIUE. 

 “I don’t really think a lot of people really knew that that public could go to the SIUE Chick-fil-A,” Bozarth said, “so I don’t think too much of a change will come with the number of people who go there.”  

 Previously, people would have had to travel to Fairview Heights for a full-service experience, which is a good 20-to-30-minute drive. Now, the new Chick-fil-A is located in a central location within the Glen Carbon boundaries.

 “I know a lot of people who have been excited about Chick-fil-A opening here in town and, people like me, have been waiting for years for a Chick-fil-A to open in town,” Bozarth said, “so I’m glad it’s here finally.