The History of Chick-fil-A

Written by: Paige Leal

Isn’t it strange that Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays? Most fast-food restaurants stay open every single day because weekends usually bring in the most customers. However, Chick-fil-A has always done things a little differently. The company’s choice to close on Sundays actually goes all the way back to the very beginning of the business and the beliefs of its founder. 

Chick-fil-A’s story started in 1946 when S. Truett Cathy and his brother Ben opened a tiny diner called the Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Georgia. The restaurant was very small, with only a few tables, but quickly became popular with local workers from nearby factories and the airport. It was in this diner that Cathy experimented with different recipes and began developing the food ideas that would later make his company famous. 

One of Cathy’s biggest breakthroughs came when he figured out a faster way to cook chicken using a pressure fryer. This allowed him to make a fried chicken sandwich in around the same amount of time it took to cook a hamburger. This could not be better for a fast-food style restaurant. After testing recipes for years, he created the sandwich that Chick-fil-A is now known for. This mouthwatering sandwich is a breaded chicken breast served on a buttered bun with pickles. 

The chicken sandwich became so successful that Cathy decided to expand the idea. In 1967, he opened the first official Chick-fil-A restaurant inside Atlanta’s Greenbriar Mall. From there, this restaurant blossomed, especially in shopping mall food courts during the 1970s and 1980s. Eventually Chick-fil-A expanded into its own restaurant, drive-thrus, and locations across all of the United States, becoming one of the largest chicken fast-food chains in the country. 

Even as the company grew into a huge national brand, bringing in millions of dollars, one tradition never changed: Chick-fil-A restaurants remain closed on Sundays. This is a wonder to the world because wouldn’t Chick-fil-A want to stay open and make more money? Well, this policy started with Truett Cathy himself. Because of his Christian faith, he believed Sunday should be a day for rest, church, and spending time with family instead of running a business. He closed his very first restaurant on Sundays, back when it was still named Dwarf Grill and he kept this rule even as the company expanded. 

Today Chick-fil-A is known not only for its chicken sandwiches but also for its strong company values and unique traditions. Even though the chain likely loses millions of dollars by closing one day each week, it continues to follow the same principle that started in a small Georgia diner almost 80 years ago. So hopefully this reminds people to always stay true to what you believe in because it is always worth it.
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