It's not what Chick-fil-A diehards in the Southern Tier really want but the restaurant company's special sauce now is available in stores across the region.

Many Broome County residents have become impatient waiting for the opening of the first Chick-fil-A location in the Binghamton area.

The Georgia-based company has slowly been expanding into markets across upstate New York but the progress has been too slow to satisfy people who've been craving a "real" Chick-fil-A sandwich.

Chick-fil-A sauce - which is produced under license by an Ohio company - recently began appearing in Binghamton area supermarkets. The 16-ounce bottle of sauce - priced at $3.99 - appears to be a popular item at the Wegmans store in Johnson City.

Chick-fil-A sauce on display at the Wegmans store in Johnson City. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)
Chick-fil-A sauce on display at the Wegmans store in Johnson City. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)
loading...

The sauce may be good but it's still not going to replace a Chick-fil-A restaurant.

While a local entrepreneur has been working to open an operation in Broome County, there has yet to be an official site announcement.

Chick-fil-A fans were happy in November 2017 when Vestal town supervisor John Schaffer said a developer had selected a site for the construction of a new restaurant.

The potential site was on the southeast corner of the intersection of the Vestal Parkway and Jensen Road. In a WNBF News interview, Schaffer said he expected a Chick-fil-A operation could open at that site by late 2018 or early 2019 if the developer's plans were finalized with the company.

But for reasons that remain unclear, that didn't happen. Since then, speculation on potential sites in Vestal, Johnson City and elsewhere in Broome County has continued.

Chick-fil-A corporate representatives don't like to discuss future restaurant locations until everything has been nailed down.

The company's latest official response to a request for information from WNBF News:

“We are always evaluating potential new locations in the hopes of serving existing and new customers great food with remarkable service. While we hope to serve the Binghamton community in the future, we do not currently have any locations to confirm.

Meanwhile, plans are moving forward for a couple of new upstate Chick-fil-A sites in upstate New York.

A planning board in Clifton Park - in the Albany area - has just approved a restaurant project for that town. And in Watertown, a closed building that had housed a Ruby Tuesday restaurant was torn down this week to make way for a Chick-fil-A operation.

Enter your number to get our free mobile app

Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.

50 Most Popular Chain Restaurants in America

YouGov investigated the most popular dining brands in the country, and Stacker compiled the list to give readers context on the findings. Read on to look through America's vast and divergent variety of restaurants—maybe you'll even find a favorite or two.

LOOK: Food history from the year you were born

From product innovations to major recalls, Stacker researched what happened in food history every year since 1921, according to news and government sources.
 

LOOK: Things from the year you were born that don't exist anymore

The iconic (and at times silly) toys, technologies, and electronics have been usurped since their grand entrance, either by advances in technology or breakthroughs in common sense. See how many things on this list trigger childhood memories—and which ones were here and gone so fast you missed them entirely.

More From KISS 104.1