Glenn Darrow was thrilled to see a Chick-fil-A outlet open in Laramie on Thursday because it will mean a lot less driving for him.
He didn’t at all mind having to wait in a long line in the Union building on the University Wyoming campus.
“I mean, it’s quicker than driving to Cheyenne or Fort Collins (to get Chick-fil-A),” said Darrow, who is a finance and entrepreneurship major at UW.
Chick-fil-A is so good, he frequently made those 90-mile round-trip drives just for Chick-fil-A, so he was pleased to have a new local outlet.
Lining Up In Droves
A wall-to-wall crowd packed into the University of Wyoming Union building late Thursday morning, jostling for places in line at Laramie’s newly-opened Chick-fil-A outlet.
The UW Union outlet joins a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Cheyenne as the much-beloved, but sometimes controversial, fast-food chain’s only two outlets in the Cowboy State.
The Chick-fil-A cow mascot was pumping up the crowd to order more chicken sandwiches. And the mascot also stopped to chide people who had already gotten meals from other outlets in the Union’s dining center, such as Panda Express.
Years In The Making
The retail dining row in the Union has long been a lunchtime destination for UW students and the general public around Laramie. Panda Express has done extremely well there and underwent a major expansion a couple of years ago.
However, some of the other available slots have seen several other franchises come and go.
The Union has for years hoped to get another sure-fire hit, such as Chick-fil-A.
Efforts to strike a deal with the company to open an outlet in the Union started several years ago, UW Retail Dining Manager Scott Strannigan told Cowboy State Daily.
Things really got moving about two years ago, he added. A survey was sent out asking people which dining option they’d like to see come to the Union next, and Chick-fil-A was the clear winner.
As he stood watching the line for the ordering counter continue to grow Thursday, Strannigan said it was satisfying to see the payoff.
“It’s exciting to see this crowd. And it’s exciting to be on board with Chick-fil-A. It’s a well-known and well-respected brand. They are a company that does things right,” he said.
Chick-fil-A sent 16 employees from all over the country to help train the Union’s staff, Strannigan said.
And he expects business to stay brisk. There are still several part-time job openings for the Union Chick-fil-A outlet.
The Chick-fil-A cow mascot was on hand at the University of Wyoming Union Thursday, encouraging people to eat at the newly-opened restaurant there. (Mark Heinz, Cowboy State Daily) 
The Chick-Fil-A cow mascot chides someone for eating Panda Express instead of Chick-Fil-A in the University of Wyoming Union on Thursday. (Mark Heinz, Cowboy State Daily)
Worth The Wait
Chick-fil-A also is healthier than other fast food, he added, as its sandwiches have less saturated fat than the typical burger, Darrow said.
He said he also respects the company’s ethics and the way it treats its employees. Like Strannigan, he noted the on-loan training staff that was sent to help get the new outlet off the ground.
No Controversy Here
Notably absent from the Laramie opening were any protestors or naysayers.
Chick-fil-A hasn’t been without controversy. Left-leaning people and activist groups have long criticized the company for allegedly being homophobic.
In 2021, students at Notre Dame petitioned to halt the opening of a Chick-fil-A on that campus.
The company was founded by devout Southern Baptist S. Truett Cathy, who died in 2014. Per his wishes to observe Sunday as a day of worship, when Christians should refrain from work, Chick-fil-A outlets still close on Sundays.
And in a turn of fortunes last year, some of the political right attacked the company accusing Chick-fil-A of being “woke” for hiring an executive to oversee the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
But there were no ideological clashes on the UW campus Thursday, only people lining up for food, at the Laramie outlet, indicating that Wyomingites are still willing to set politics aside when the lunch bell rings.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
