47 Fun Facts About Chick-fil-A

Truett Cathy's first restaurant, the 1946 Dwarf Grill, took its name from what?

Its small size: the diner Cathy opened with his brother in 1946 had only ten counter stools and a handful of tables, yet it stayed open around the clock.

In which Atlanta suburb did Truett Cathy open his first restaurant in 1946?

Hapeville, next to Atlanta's airport, was home to the 1946 Dwarf Grill, which drew much of its early trade from workers at the Ford assembly plant nearby.

Before Chick-fil-A had any restaurants, its sandwich was sold at which stadium in Texas when it opened in 1965?

The Astrodome. For three years the sandwich was licensed to other outlets, the new domed stadium's stands among them, until the first Chick-fil-A opened in an Atlanta mall in 1967.

Chick-fil-A's first restaurant opened in 1967 in the food court of which Atlanta mall?

Greenbriar Mall, one of Atlanta's first enclosed malls, gave Chick-fil-A its start as a pioneer of food-court dining; the restaurant served for 56 years before closing in May 2023.

What is the capital 'A' at the end of Chick-fil-A's name meant to signify?

The capital A stands for Grade A top-quality chicken; the 'fil' part plays on how Americans say 'filet', so the whole name is a boast about a top-grade chicken fillet.

What did Truett Cathy find in 1961 that cooked a chicken fillet as fast as a hamburger?

A pressure fryer. Cathy had run his diner for 15 years when he found one that cooked a boneless chicken breast as quickly as a burger, and it was six more before the first Chick-fil-A opened.

From 1964 to 1967 the Chick-fil-A sandwich was licensed to over fifty other eateries, including which breakfast chain?

Waffle House, another Georgia-born chain, sold the sandwich under licence in the 1960s; by one account it outsold the chain's own dishes before the arrangement ended.

Chick-fil-A's first restaurant, opened in 1967, was about the size of what?

A two-car garage. The mall counter covered just 384 square feet, and the chain stayed almost entirely inside shopping malls for 19 years, opening its first stand-alone restaurant only in 1986.

On which day of the week is every Chick-fil-A restaurant closed?

Every Chick-fil-A closes on Sunday, a rule Truett Cathy set at his first diner in 1946 after years of working seven days a week in 24-hour restaurants.

In 2007 Chick-fil-A's cows were inducted into a Walk of Fame on which New York street?

Madison Avenue. Its Advertising Walk of Fame honoured a herd dreamed up in 1995 by The Richards Group, an agency based far from New York, in Dallas.

On what did Chick-fil-A's 'Eat Mor Chikin' cows first appear in 1995?

Billboard. A pair of cows was shown painting the misspelled plea on an Atlanta sign; their first radio commercial followed a year later.

What breed of dairy cow stars in Chick-fil-A's advertising?

Holstein. The black-and-white dairy cows run their whole campaign as an act of self-preservation: eat chicken, they plead, instead of us.

Doodles, Chick-fil-A's original chicken mascot, survives today as which part of the company's logo?

The letter C. Doodles fronted the chain until the cows took over its advertising in 1995, and he still stands in for the first letter of its name.

Why did Chick-fil-A once temporarily halt its 'Eat Mor Chikin' ads?

A mad cow disease scare. The company did not want to seem to be cashing in on a food-safety panic, so it shelved the campaign for a time before bringing its cows back.

Which long-running piece of cow merchandise did Chick-fil-A retire at the end of 2018?

Calendar. Each edition came with monthly offers of free food, and the chain dropped it to steer regulars to the rewards in its mobile app instead.

Chick-fil-A's Original Chicken Sandwich is cooked in 100 percent refined what?

Peanut oil. The company says its oil is so heavily refined that the proteins are stripped out, and it notes that the FDA does not count highly refined oils as major food allergens.

What garnish comes as standard on Chick-fil-A's Original Chicken Sandwich?

Two dill pickle slices. Truett Cathy had diners at his restaurant taste-test versions until he settled on the recipe in 1964; lettuce, tomato and cheese come only on the Deluxe.

For more than 30 years, Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy and his wife Jeannette opened their home to whom?

Foster children. The Cathys took them in for more than three decades, and his WinShape Foundation went on to open a string of foster homes of its own.

Chick-fil-A's waffle-cut potato fries are cooked in which oil?

Chick-fil-A's waffle-cut fries are cooked in canola oil, not the oil used for the chicken, and are finished with a sprinkle of sea salt.

Which item have some Chick-fil-A restaurants sold during Lent?

Fish sandwich. Because many Christians give up meat during Lent, the chicken chain promoted a seasonal fish entrée in some years, though it has since stopped offering one.

As of 2018, what was the most-ordered item on Chick-fil-A's menu?

Waffle fries topped the chain's 2018 ranking of its most-ordered items; soft drinks came second, and the Original Chicken Sandwich that made its name managed only fourth.

Chick-fil-A added which item in 1982, the year before McDonald's took its own version nationwide?

Chicken nuggets. Customers kept asking restaurant operators to cut the sandwich fillet into bite-sized pieces, so in 1982 the chain began selling them in boxes of six.

Which Chick-fil-A dipping sauce was one of the original three introduced in 1984?

Polynesian, a sweet-and-sour sauce, was one of the chain's first three dips in 1984, and forty years later it was still the second most-ordered of them all.

In 2014 Chick-fil-A pledged that within five years its chicken would be raised without what?

Antibiotics. The chain met the pledge in 2019, then relaxed it in 2024 to rule out only antibiotics important to human medicine, saying it needed to keep its chicken supply steady.

Chick-fil-A's namesake sauce was born when a worker accidentally mixed which sauce into a restaurant's homemade honey mustard?

Barbecue sauce. Virginia restaurant operator Hugh Fleming had whipped up the honey mustard for his customers in the early 1980s, and he added the barbecue once the accident proved a hit.

Which dip did customers order more than any other in 2024?

Chick-fil-A Sauce topped the chain's 2024 ranking of its dipping sauces, with Sweet & Spicy Sriracha finishing last of the seven.

In 2023 Chick-fil-A began testing its first meat-free sandwich, built around which vegetable?

Cauliflower. A filet cut from a whole head was marinated, breaded and cooked like the chicken, after guests told the chain they wanted more vegetables; tests began in Denver, Charleston and Greensboro.

Which bowl game has carried Chick-fil-A's name as title sponsor since the 1990s?

Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013 the fruit vanished and the game was simply the Chick-fil-A Bowl; the peach returned in 2014, the year the game joined the College Football Playoff.

Chick-fil-A restaurants in which US territory serve coffee grown and roasted entirely on the island?

Puerto Rico. The chain arrived there in 2022, and its island restaurants train staff as baristas to hand-brew lattes and cortados sold at no other Chick-fil-A.

What had Truett Cathy just finished doing when he opened his first diner near Atlanta in 1946?

Serving in the US Army. Back from his Second World War service, he and his brother turned a house into a diner that stayed open 24 hours a day.

Since 2017 the bowl game Chick-fil-A sponsors has been played at which Atlanta stadium?

Mercedes-Benz Stadium took over from the Georgia Dome next door, which had hosted the game for 25 seasons and was demolished in November 2017.

Besides its weekly day off, Chick-fil-A closes every US restaurant on Thanksgiving and which other holiday?

Christmas Day. The company says the closure lets its restaurant teams spend the holiday with family and friends, the same thinking that lies behind its weekly day of rest.

Which member of the Cathy family became Chick-fil-A's chief executive in 2021?

Andrew Cathy, the founder's grandson, became CEO in November 2021, taking the company into its third generation of family leadership.

When Truett Cathy retired in November 2013, which son took over as Chick-fil-A's chairman and CEO?

Dan Cathy became chairman and CEO in November 2013; he handed the chief executive's job on in late 2021 but stayed chairman of the board.

Who owns Chick-fil-A?

Its founding family. Truett Cathy refused to take the company public, and its shares still cannot be bought on any stock market.

In 2025, what initial fee did Chick-fil-A ask of a would-be franchise operator?

Chick-fil-A asked just $10,000 from a would-be Operator in 2025 because the company keeps ownership of the restaurant; selection is highly competitive and training takes months.

About how much did the average Chick-fil-A restaurant take in during 2024, the most of any big US fast-food chain?

$7.5 million. That was nearly twice the takings of an average McDonald's, and it came from restaurants that stay shut one day in every seven.

By 2019 US sales, Chick-fil-A ranked third among restaurant chains, behind McDonald's and which other company?

Starbucks, with about $21 billion in US sales, sat between McDonald's at about $40 billion and Chick-fil-A at $11.3 billion, which had climbed past Subway, Taco Bell and Burger King to get there.

As of 2025, Vermont and which other state were the only two without a Chick-fil-A restaurant?

Alaska. The chain had restaurants in the other 48 states, and it had opened across the border in Canada while both holdouts still had none.

In late 2025 Chick-fil-A opened its first restaurant in Asia in which country?

Singapore. The company committed $75 million over ten years to the launch and chose an owner-operator born and raised there to run the restaurant.

Chick-fil-A's 'my pleasure' catchphrase was inspired by an employee of what kind of business?

A high-end hotel. Truett Cathy was so struck when an employee there answered his thanks with 'my pleasure' that he asked his own staff to say it whenever a customer thanked them.

Which word completes Chick-fil-A's corporate purpose, 'to glorify God by being a faithful ___'?

Steward. Truett Cathy and his executive committee wrote the purpose in 1982, when sales were falling and the company had to decide what it stood for.

At the age of eight, Truett Cathy started his first business, selling which drink door to door?

Coca-Cola. He bought six-packs for a quarter and sold the bottles for a nickel each, and found they sold better once he chilled them on ice.

Which words complete the title of Truett Cathy's book 'It's Better to Build Boys Than ___'?

'It's Better to Build Boys Than Mend Men' drew on Cathy's five decades teaching a church class for teenage boys; his other titles include 'Eat Mor Chikin: Inspire More People'.

At 92, Truett Cathy opened a restaurant in Fayetteville, Georgia, inspired by his visits to which state?

Hawaii. Truett's Luau, opened in 2013, serves island dishes beside the usual chicken, and it was the last restaurant Cathy opened before his death the following year.

Which word completed the 'Eat More ___' T-shirts that drew a 2011 cease-and-desist letter from Chick-fil-A?

Vermont screen printer Bo Muller-Moore's 'Eat More Kale' shirts drew the 2011 demand; he fought it and won a federal trademark for the phrase in 2014.

Which fried-chicken chain's 2019 fillet sandwich launch, rivalling Chick-fil-A, kicked off the 'sandwich wars'?

Popeyes launched its chicken sandwich in August 2019 and sold out nationwide within two weeks, setting off a copycat rush across the industry.