Chick-fil-A’s story begins with a small diner in 1946, but the first restaurant actually named Chick-fil-A opened in 1967 in the Greenbriar Shopping Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Quick Scoop

  • 1946: Founder S. Truett Cathy opened a diner called the Dwarf Grill (later the Dwarf House) in Hapeville, Georgia, which is considered the origin of what became Chick-fil-A.
  • Early 1960s: Cathy developed his signature pressure-fried chicken sandwich and registered the Chick-fil-A name and company.
  • 1967: The first official Chick-fil-A branded restaurant opened in Atlanta’s Greenbriar Shopping Center, which is the date most commonly given as when Chick-fil-A “opened” as a chain.

So if you are asking “when did Chick-fil-A open,” most sources point to 1967 as the opening of the first Chick-fil-A restaurant, with 1946 marking the earlier diner that started the brand’s history.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.