There’s a new chicken in town, in Lake Park that is.

Zaxby’s recently opened their 199th store in Georgia, just off of Exit 5 with a brand new kitchen and dining room design.

This location is a kind of sister store to the one currently being built on St. Augustine Road in Valdosta. Both stores stand on previous Hardee’s locations.

“When we had the fire at Baytree Road, we needed to try and decide on a new location and we really liked the Hardee’s building in Valdosta,” Wes Kennedy, Area Development Manager for Zaxby’s, said.

“It was a two-store deal, basically. If we wanted that one, we were going to get this one too, so it was really kind of a diamond in the rough that we lucked into.”

Details for the design, interior and exterior, were released last week.

“The bold, new restaurant design will enhance Zaxby’s operational efficiency by showcasing a new, open kitchen design, allowing multiple equipment options and additional storage capacity,” the press release reads.

“The 90-seat restaurant will feature an open, inviting atmosphere with spacious seating and bright graphics. The unique interior includes a redesigned drink station to provide improved customer access and convenience, and a high-performance heating and air-conditioning system that reduces humidity and provides a comfortable seating area and kitchen.”

Walking in, patrons will notice that the interior of this restaurant is much roomier than the typical Zaxby’s design. Instead of the tight aisles and minimal floor space found at the store on Inner Perimeter Road, the Lake Park establishment is very open.

The new kitchen design in this store is a center-line kitchen where the “make table” is in the center of the kitchen.

The St. Augustine location will feature the same interior design, but with a box-kitchen, also known as a galley-kitchen, where the “make tables” are placed around the perimeter of the box-shaped kitchen.

In keeping with the brand’s farm-like theme, the restrooms–located at the front of the restaurant, near the counter–are labeled “hens” and “roosters.” A glance at the high, black-painted ceilings will reveal fluted gooseneck light fixtures and a view from the underside of a corrugated tin roof.

The building’s exterior features tin awnings and red siding reminiscent of a barn as well as a silo emblazoned with the company logo and topped with a working weathervane.

The design of this store, Kennedy said, is partly homage to the historic Baytree Road store that was destroyed by an accidental fire in March of last year.

“If you’ll notice the tin awning roofs and the silo and in the dining room they’ve got kind of the same material lights hanging over the table and if you remember back at Baytree Road Zaxby’s we had the old tin buckets and the tin awnings,” he said.

Zaxby’s created 45 to 50 new jobs in the Lake Park area by hiring locally to staff the store and plans to do even more to better the local area.

“Zaxby’s is really…specifically, starting to dip their toes into really trying to become more of a partner in the community versus a business,” Kennedy said.

He added that the company is interested in hosting fundraisers for local schools and organizations such as Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and churches.

The company currently has over 540 locations in 12 states. Menu items range from entrees such as chicken wings and fingers to sandwiches and “Zalads” and “Zappetizers” from fried mushrooms to “Tater Chips.”

Operating hours for the Lake Park store, located at 1220 Lakes Blvd. in front of Mill Store Plaza, are Mon. to Thurs. 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sun. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.