TGI Fridays and Dairy Inn Sites Construction
The once bustling TGI Fridays on Tyrone Boulevard closed its doors for good last year, with the dated restaurant building sitting vacant ever since. Now, the empty Fridays is completely gone to make way for a new, significantly larger Chick-fil-A location. Crews are prepping the entire lot, readying the high-traffic site for re-building from the ground up. Chick-fil-A plans to construct a modern restaurant with more seating and an expanded kitchen to better handle the chain’s famous lines and booming drive-through demand.
The larger location aims to improve flow and customer experience compared to the current cramped Chick-fil-A just down the road. Soon Fridays fans will drive byLINES and booming drive-through demand. The larger location aims to improve flow and customer experience compared to the current cramped Chick-fil-A just down the road. Soon Fridays fans will drive by the busy corner and see a shiny new Chick-fil-A instead of their former go-to spot, though they likely won’t miss having to wait any less for a table.
TGI Fridays and Dairy Inn Sites Construction: Crossroads center:
Chick-fil-A Drive-Through Causing Severe Congestion on Tyrone Boulevard
The Chick-fil-A on Tyrone Boulevard next to the McDonald’s and Barnes & Noble draws consistent, massive crowds of hungry customers each day. As one of the busiest locations in the region, the restaurant is bursting at the seams, causing major traffic congestion and an unpleasant dining environment. To alleviate these issues, Chick-fil-A is eyeing a larger location across from the Home Depot at the Crossroads center just down the road.
TGI Fridays and Dairy Inn Sites Construction: Hour-Long Drive-Through Lines Obstructing Traffic Flow
The phenomenal popularity of Chick-fil-A has been both a blessing and a curse at the existing Tyrone Boulevard site. The convenient location situated alongside other popular national chains creates the perfect storm for continual customer traffic that the small building simply cannot adequately handle.
Every day from open to close, a parade of cars snakes around the building, hoping to get their chicken fix from the crammed drive-through lane. During peak lunch and dinner times, the queue can extend over an hour wait just to order. These extraordinarily long lines then overflow onto Tyrone Boulevard itself, obstructing normal traffic flow with waiting vehicles.
Even the parking lot cannot fit the flocks of customers descending upon it. Cars end up parked haphazardly wherever space allows, even double parking behind others waiting to exit. It is a logistical and safety nightmare. Relocating to the Crossroads center would provide the bigger drive-through capacity necessary to handle such volume. More ordering lanes and parking could prevent the bottlenecks plaguing the current location.
Rendering of the New Chick Fil A at Crossroads Center, lower left is a picture of the old Dairy Inn and to the right the Townhomes that will be constructed.
TGI Fridays and Dairy Inn Sites Construction: Cramped Interior Providing Subpar Dining Experience
In addition to the havoc outside, the interior restaurant suffers its own overcrowding crisis. There is not nearly enough space to seat even a fraction of those wanting to dine inside, especially families. The dining room feels cramped and crowded, with every table occupied and customers struggling to find seating. People end up crowded around corners or eating without trays because of the lack of available surfaces.
Supplies like cups and packaging materials further clutter the already-limited dining space because there is inadequate storage room in the tiny kitchen. The chaotic atmosphere ruins the dining experience and prevents customers from relaxing to enjoy their food.
In contrast, the proposed Crossroads location would feature a significantly larger interior with expanded seating capacity. An open, spacious dining area would allow enough room for everyone to eat comfortably amid an aesthetically pleasing environment without clutter in sight. Moving storage out of customer view improves both organization and ambiance.
TGI Fridays and Dairy Inn Sites Construction: Conclusion: Relocation Critical to Ease Congestion and Improve Experience
It is abundantly clear the current Chick-fil-A site can no longer sustain the overwhelming popularity of the restaurant. From constant traffic jams outside to the unpleasantness inside, relocation provides much-needed additional capacity and an upgraded experience for both employees and customers. Allowing easier access via expanded drive-through lanes and better-facilitated parking solves logistical headaches while a roomier interior invites relaxation during dining. Addressing such extreme demand and growth is pivotal for this Chick-fil-A location to continue serving its loyal customers and community. The Crossroads center delivers the bigger, more functional space to match such success.
TGI Fridays and Dairy Inn Sites Construction: End of an Era: Luxury Townhomes to Replace Iconic St. Petersburg Ice Cream Shop
A familiar sight for generations of St. Petersburg residents, the iconic Dairy Inn ice cream shop on 1201 Martin Luther King Jr. Street North, closed its doors in November 2022 after over seven decades in business. The corner property, most recognized for its large Dairy Inn signage visible from the street, had operated there since 1947, first as a Dairy Queen before becoming Dairy Inn in 1969.
Now, the classic 646-square-foot restaurant building with its signature chalkboard menu is completely gutted in preparation for demolition. Kitchen equipment, outdoor picnic tables, and nostalgic references to house-made root beer floats are on the way out signifying the end of an era. Dairy Inn owners Paul and Beth Johnson took over the ice cream stand nearly nine years ago, renovating the building before having to cease operations last fall.
In their wake, a developer purchased the high-profile lot in December for $740,000. Plans have been drawn to construct six luxury townhomes on the site, replacing the former shake and sundae spot with modern million-dollar residences dubbed The Brentwood Villas.
Each of the customizable dwellings will provide over 2,800 square feet of living space on three levels. The townhome design includes three bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms, 12-foot ceilings on the main floor, two-car garages, and private rooftop terraces ideal for relaxing and outdoor entertaining. The residences will also contain a flex room above the garage that can be adapted as a private gym or home office.
TGI Fridays and Dairy Inn Sites Construction: More features
Additionally, each townhome will feature its own elevator, an atypical amenity for most residential developments. The combination of upscale features and location aims to attract affluent homebuyers looking for a low-maintenance lifestyle near downtown amenities.
Pricing on The Brentwood Villas is slated to start around $1.6 million. The developer hopes to finalize permits and prepare the site within eight to nine months before beginning an estimated 14-months of construction on the townhome project.
Once operational in 2024, the former Dairy Inn corner will be completely transformed from a bustling community ice cream stand into an exclusive stretch of high-end living quarters designed for singles, couples, and small families. St. Petersburg natives will surely feel nostalgic passing the now vacant storefront that once served up sweet childhood memories over simple scoops of happiness by the cone or pint.
While the physical Dairy Inn building eventually fades into the past, perhaps something of its community spirit and role as a gathering place will live on through the new development rising up in its place along the city horizon.
TGI Fridays and Dairy Inn Sites Construction: Conclusion
As popular chains strive to expand, St Petersburg is seeing familiar locations transformed before our eyes. Two prominent developments highlight businesses taking steps to keep pace with customer demand.
On Tyrone Boulevard, the aging TGI Fridays has been demolished to make way for a larger, modernized Chick-fil-A franchise. With overflowing lines an everyday occurrence, the bigger restaurant finally provides the increased drive-through, parking, and interior capacity critical for this Chick-fil-A’s sky-high sales volume.
Similarly, the classic Dairy Inn ice cream shop shut down after over 70 years, no longer able to meet today’s standards in its dated building. The new luxury townhomes rising on that corner, dubbed The Brentwood Villas, cater to more modern tastes with customized amenities and multimillion-dollar price tags reflecting the surrounding downtown’s growth.
As St. Petersburg expands, longstanding locations must also evolve. Both the new Chick-fil-A and Dairy Inn redevelopment showcase businesses adapting sites to current needs. So while residents will miss the nostalgic establishments that once occupied those lots, the city continues moving forward in the 21st century through such progress.
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