With all the fervor of a new iPhone launch, hungry chicken fans not afraid of Chick-Fil-A's homophobic stigma camped out at the chain's new Walnut Creek location overnight last night in hopes of winning a year's worth of free pickle-adorned chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, and tiny packets of Polynesian sauce.
Like being closed on Sundays and supporting only hetero marriages, the free chicken giveaway is a tradition with the Georgia-based chain. For the past nine years, Chick-Fil-A has offered a year's worth of free meals to the first 100 people through the doors whenever a new location opens. Naturally, folks came out in droves to turn the occasion into an overnight slumber party, complete with tents, iPads and cellphone charging stations that would have made a Sandy refugee jealous.
Although things looked calm as some fried poultry aficionados killed time playing bananagrams last night, a Facebook group has been planning to boycott the Walnut Creek location for the better part of this year. As the doors opened at 6:30 a.m. this morning KRON4 reported drivers were yelling slurs out their windows as they passed by the restaurant in a new strip mall on Main Street in Walnut Creek. For his part, new franchisee Brent Allen told KTVU he welcomes the protest, saying: "I'm a believer in free speech and I invite them here to express themselves and I'm gonna treat them with honor dignity and respect."
If you've never had the chance to experience what some have called "Hate Chicken" for yourself, line-waiter Kim Winter, who found her first pickle tucked into a chicken sandwich sometime last year, explained "It's really good. It's whole meat and it's fresh and it tastes good... It tastes like it came out of your mom's kitchen." Which: if your mom follows this recipe, it very well could have.
KTVU2 has more in last night's video report.