It’s that time of year when thoughts are centered on turkey. But soon enough, most everybody in Turlock will be thinking about chicken.

City economic developer Anthony Sims announced Friday that plans are underway for a Chick-fil-A restaurant to come to Turlock.

“In Turlock? When?” asked 16-year-old Cheyanne Ruelas. “I love Chick-fil-A. I’ve been saying for years that we need one closer to Turlock.”

The permitting process is expected to be concluded just after the first of the year, though it’s unknown when construction might begin at the southwest corner of Tuolumne Road and Countryside Drive.

Regardless, it appears Ruelas won’t have to drive 30 minutes to Manteca much longer to get her chicken Chick-fil-A fix.

“We’ve been working on this for about 15 months now,” said Sims. “It’s a very important project. The mayor (Amy Bublak) has been instrumental in this, the planning team, engineering, leadership … we’ve all had a hand in this.”

Joshua Stark, listed as a co-applicant on planning documents, declined to speculate when the project might start or finish because more project coordination with the city remains.

“I expect we’ll have more information in about six to eight weeks,” said Stark.

Sims hopes that Chick-fil-A is just the tip of the iceberg for Turlock business expansion.

“We want to go after businesses that our community wants,” said Sims. “They’ve expressed desires for HomeGoods, Chick-fil-A, Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, Cabela’s, Topgolf … so we want to go after these types of businesses and let them know about Turlock.”

HomeGoods opened in Turlock this past summer. Trader Joe’s is a high-end grocery store chain, Sprouts Farmers Market offers natural and organic foods; Cabela’s is a retailer that specializes in outdoor equipment; and Topgolf is a sports-entertainment driving range.

“They better get a Trader Joe’s,” said Amanda Shelton, Ruelas’ mother. “I could ride my bike to Trader Joe’s.”

Currently, the closest Trader Joe’s is in Modesto, about 15 miles from the Turlock city limit.

Wesley Caetano, a Hilmar resident who works at Sacred Heart School with Shelton, is excited that Chick-fil-A has chosen Turlock.

“Saves the time of going to Manteca or Fresno to have a nice little lunch,” said Caetano. “The spicy chicken sandwich and their criss-cut fries are pretty good, as well as their lemonade with pebbled ice. You can’t beat that.”

Chick-fil-A is known for its chicken sandwiches and a variety of sauces such as barbecue, garden herb ranch, honey mustard, sweet and spicy sriracha, zesty buffalo, Polynesian, not to mention their original signature sauce.

Architectural designs call for a restaurant of nearly 5,000 square feet on a parcel of 2.5 total acres. There is expected to be more than 70 parking slots, with two lanes for drive-thru service.

“We’re excited at this stage,” said Sims, who indicated that Turlock is positioned nicely as a landing spot for businesses. “Turlock has the statistics: Population of 72,000; within 20 miles we have 500,000 people; we have Stanislaus State; we’ve got the power retail center at Monte Vista Crossings; we have a vibrant, historic downtown. We have it all.”