The University of Iowa and the Coralville Chick-fil-A have partnered to create a pop-up store for students, stocked with Chick-fil-A’s most popular menu items. The pop-up is located under the south entrance to the Iowa Memorial Union and across from the Food Pantry.

The store, which opened on March 30, is designed to be a new food option for students on campus following the closure of the Union Station Food Court closing on March 13. 

The store is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and serves regular and spicy chicken sandwiches with or without the combo, waffle potato chips, chocolate chunk cookies, and bottled drinks. 

Bill Nelson, associate dean and executive director for the IMU, said the new Chick-fil-A pop-up will be in the IMU until phase two of the building is complete in August 2027.

Nelson said once phase two is complete, the IMU will have two new food vendors. Nelson declined to comment on what vendors will be in the newly renovated food court, as the IMU is still waiting to sign contracts on deals. 

“They should be signed pretty soon,” Nelson said. “So just stay tuned.”

RELATED: Iowa Memorial Union renovations prompt Union Station closure

He also said that once phase two is complete, Godfather’s Pizza and the IMU’s old sushi vendor will return to the IMU, but in different locations.

Nelson said the pop-up Chick-fil-A idea arose when a colleague of his, Scott Seagren, the chief financial officer for the UI Division of Student Life, spoke with a Chick-fil-A representative. 

After Seagren expressed interest in having a Chick-fil-A on campus, the representative said to get in contact with a local franchise owner. 

“So it happened really quick,” Nelson said. “We made contact with the owner of the Coralville store.”

The Coralville Chick-fil-A owner and operator, Chase Williby, has been in charge of the restaurant in the Coral Ridge Mall food court for four years and has enjoyed working with the IMU staff. 

To make the pop-up event happen, Williby assigned staff members shifts at the IMU for the 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. time slot. Since the space they’re in has no cooking equipment, the staff has to make drop-offs from the Coralville location during the three-hour time slot to make sure customers are consuming fresh items.

The lack of cooking equipment also means they are unable to cook french fries, which is why they are not on the menu.

Williby said if the pop-up becomes popular enough, they will look into possibly expanding the hours.

“If the demand is there and if students want it, we want to be able to provide it,” Williby said.

He said that if they decide to expand the menu, the next items he wants to add would be healthier items like the chicken wraps or the fruit cups.

Williby also said if the pop-up is busy enough, he will look into hiring UI students to work there. 

UI Undergraduate Student Government President Thomas Knudsen said the student government has known about the pop-up for about a month before its official opening.

“I am excited,” Knudsen said. “Thousands of students come here every single day and to lose something for a period of time, like the Union Station, it definitely has a hit on the student population and the university has to come up with creative ways in order to provide food service to students.”

Knudsen said this isn’t something the university has done in the past which makes it a “cool opportunity” that will hopefully lead to additional opportunities in the future for students to enjoy.

UI third-year student Mason Lavoncher said he went to the pop-up because of its convenient location, and said it could become a staple in his weekly diet.

“Very often, probably like once or twice a week,” Lavoncher said, predicting his visits to the location. “It’s probably going to get dangerous.”

Lavoncher was a fan of the items they offered. However, he did notice the lack of fries for customers.

He said adding fries would be the first thing he’d want the new Chick-fil-A to do because most people, including himself, prefer the fries over the chips.

Lavoncher also said he isn’t very interested in the new Chick-fil-A adding in their healthier options because he doesn’t go there to have a healthy meal, but he does think those items would bring in more customers.

Jacob Morgan, a high school senior from Illinois and pop-up customer, was on a campus visit to the university and said he decided to stop at the new Chick-fil-A because of his familiarity with the food.

He said that even though he’s undecided on where to go to school, having a campus with familiar places is something he’s looking for.