But I’m No Expert

Or at least a convenient Chick.  No, I’m not talking about a girl (besides, I’m married – how much more convenient can you get?), I’m talking about my all-time favorite restaurant – Chick-fil-a.  I was in my local Chick, at Bellevue Center Mall, the other night because my wonderful expert wife let me splurge and get some Chick.  So I ordered my usual: #5, 12 piece, value sized with…lemonade.  Normally, it’s sweet tea, but it was late and I didn’t want to be up all night.  Anyway, this other guy orders after me and strikes up a conversation with the manager.  She begins filling him in on the plans for my Chick and I was appalled.  Now, before I go any further, let me give you the back story.

Bellevue Center Mall has basically been dying for years.  Recently, it’s become this weirdo hybrid of mall and office complex, complete with churches, realtors, accountants, consignment furniture stores, and an athletics training center…and the only other store really frequented: Chick-fil-a.  Well, a group from California, Four Square Properties, just bought it and put together this nice, progressive plan for rehabbing the mall and making it into less of an eyesore (I mean, ugh!  Hello 70’s) and more of a community center where people would enjoy coming, and hopefully, spending their money.  You can get all the details at the bellevuenow.com site.   So their plans include tearing down almost all of the original structure and building other shops and restaurants in the property, but in more of an outdoor, open air mall setting.  Which is fine with me.  There is new one of these over in Mount Juliet (about 40 mils east) and it’s pretty nice, and there was a nice one of these in Birmingham called the Summit that I frequented.  No prob.  Back to our story:

So the manager dishes out that the plans for the mall have been approved by the city and they will begin tearing it down in February.  So the guy asks the only logical question for a Chick-fil-a fan: where’s the new Chick going to be?  She doesn’t know.  She says Chick doesn’t own any property in the Bellevue area and they haven’t been invited by the Bellevue Now people to be one of the few restaurants on site.  My jaw drops open.  We both protest, “That’s not right!”  We both launch into our best arguments for keeping a Chick-fil-a in Bellevue, including – and this is my favorite – it’s the best place to eat in the world, much less Bellevue and both of our favorites!  She just shrugs and says to contact the Bellevue Now people and petition them to bring a Chick in as one of the restaurants.  So, that’s why I’m breaking my blogging silence (I’m really just lazy and wanted to get everyone else on board too).  Go to bellevuenow.com and beg, plead, scream, yell, cuss (not really), maim (no, seriously – this won’t work), slap (that’s not possible through a website, is it?), and nuke (ok, that’s enough, really) them to have a Chick.  We can’t loose the Chick.  If not, I’ll just buy my own!  It’s always been a dream of mine to own a Chick-fil-a.  So if Bellevue Now won’t do it, I’ll do.  Bellevue is just another suburb of Nashvegas without a Chick-fil-a, but I’m no expert.