Chick-fil-A has signed the lease for a second location in Pleasanton, in the vacant restaurant space Sweet Tomatoes once occupied before the buffet chain went bankrupt early in the pandemic.

The fast-food restaurant, known for its chicken sandwiches, will take up half of the building located in the Hacienda Business Park at 4501 Hopyard Road.

James Paxson, general manager at Hacienda, told the Weekly that it will take up the half closest to the street and will not have any drive-thru like the other Chick-fil-A in Pleasanton, on Johnson Drive. Instead, he said it will be a walk-up restaurant with a special area designated for pickup and food delivery services.

"There's obviously a great deal of interest in the restaurant," Paxson said. "I mean, the current location is very, very popular, as you can see just from looking at the queue of cars that are going into their drive-thru over there."

Paxson said he's also excited to see more activity happening in the retail sector in Pleasanton, especially after businesses like Sweet Tomatoes shuttered for good right when the pandemic had first started.

"The loss of Sweet Tomatoes was really significant. That was a very popular lunch spot and I think they had a great model. Obviously, it did not work," Paxson said. "We're very encouraged to see that there's good signs of retail activity in our current market and we think this will be a great addition to the restaurant lineup that we have at Hacienda."

He said he doesn't have any information about the timeline on construction but confirmed the restaurant has made the application with the city and has signed the lease for the location.

Chick-fil-A officials had not responded to a request for comment as of press time.

There are currently no plans for what will happen to the other half of the old Sweet Tomatoes building, according to Paxson.

The Hacienda restaurant marks the latest expansion in the Tri-Valley for Chick-fil-A, which also has one location due to open soon in Livermore and two others under consideration in Dublin.