'We'll be back': Northport Chick-fil-A closes temporarily for remodeling kitchen, drive-thru

The Chick-fil-A in Northport has closed temporarily for remodeling.

According to the restaurant's Facebook page, the Northport Chick-fil-A closed on May 6 and expects to re-open by the end of July.

The remodeling efforts include expanding the kitchen area and the drive-through lanes.

"We'll be back. Better than ever," says the cover photo on the restaurant's Facebook page.

A sign outside the restaurant shows the Chick-fil-A cows wearing construction hard hats along with the message "Thank you for bearing with us while we remodel."

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Chick-fil-A's other Tuscaloosa area locations remain open: 2014 McFarland Blvd., 4900 Old Greensboro Road and inside University Mall.

The Northport Chick-fil-A opened 13 years ago at 1620 McFarland Blvd. and, in 2016, owner Ashley Gill was named the Northport Citizen of the Year.

At the time, the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama said Gill had twice been awarded the company’s Symbol of Success Award, the highest honor given to restaurant owners.

And this will not be the first time Gill has overseen changes to the Northport restaurant's drive-thru process.

In 2018, the Northport Chick-fil-A reconfigured its drive-through system to accommodate what Gill described as the "absolutely insane” number of customers it received during its lunch rush.

Upwards of 130 customers per hour were navigating the drive-through lanes, causing traffic snarls and backing up into the travel lanes of U.S. Highway 82.

"It’ll back up all the way across the highway and that’s just not our goal,” she said at the time.