Customers Camp Out for Chicken at Framingham's New Chick-fil-A

People flocked to the new Chick-fil-A in Framingham hours ahead of its scheduled opening Thursday to become one of the lucky first customers to eat at the restaurant and receive free chicken for a full year, according to The MetroWest Daily News. The chicken chain has a rule (with guidelines, of course) where the first 100 customers are bequeathed the honor of getting one meal free per week for a year.

The Framingham Chick-fil-A is the third location for the chain in the Greater Boston area. The late Mayor Tom Menino famously opposed the opening of a Boston Chick-fil-A due to anti-gay views from the company's president.

MetroWest reported that the franchise owner and operator, Mark Parker, wanted customers to know he operates independently and with his own beliefs. A post on the Framingham restaurant's Facebook page reads: "At Chick-fil-A Framingham we welcome, embrace and are thrilled to serve ALL members of our great community, and we will treat all those in our great community with honor, dignity, and respect. As a local born and raised owner I look forward to serving and supporting all members our community. See you soon."

Chick-fil-A has a devoted following of customers who love the restaurant's crispy fried chicken sandwiches, breakfast biscuits, waffle fries, and milkshakes.

The restaurant posted photos of guests camped out in the parking lot ahead of today's opening.