[5] Headquartered in College Park, Georgia, Chick-fil-A operates 3,164 restaurants across 48 states, as well as in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

It is a piece of deep-fried breaded boneless chicken breast served on a toasted bun with two slices of dill pickle, or with lettuce, tomato, and cheese.

[8] Many of the company's values are influenced by the Christian religious beliefs of its late founder, S. Truett Cathy (1921–2014), a devout Southern Baptist.

[13][14] The chain's origin can be traced to the Dwarf Grill (now the Dwarf House), a restaurant opened by S. Truett Cathy, the chain's former chairman and CEO, in Hapeville, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, in 1946,[15] which is near the location of the Ford Motor Company Atlanta Assembly Plant, for many years a source of many of the restaurant's patrons.

[20][21] The Chick-Fil-A sandwich was withdrawn from sale at other restaurants when the first dedicated location opened in 1967, in the food court of the Greenbriar Mall in Atlanta.

[22] The first freestanding location was opened April 16, 1986, on North Druid Hills Road in Atlanta, Georgia,[23] and the company began to focus more on stand-alone units rather than food courts.

[26][27] On December 17, 2017, Chick-fil-A broke their tradition and opened on a Sunday to prepare meals for passengers left stranded during a power outage at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport;[30] further, on January 13, 2019, a Chick-fil-A franchise in Mobile, Alabama, opened on Sunday to honor a birthday wish of a 14-year-old boy with cerebral palsy and autism.

In the spring of 2020, Chick-fil-A test-trialed the sale of two of their dipping sauces at some supermarkets in Florida, with all profits earmarked for a scholarship fund for the company's store-level employees.

[47] In October 2022, the company trialed expansion of the program to include its salad dressings in the Cincinnati metropolitan area and in parts of Tennessee,[48][49] and expanded nationwide in spring 2023.

[50] In January 2025, Chick-fil-A announced plans to centralize its lemonade production by moving it from its restaurant locations to a single, automated facility in California.

[54] A company spokesperson said in 2012, "The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our Restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect –regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender.

"[55] In accordance with the founder's belief in the Christian doctrine of first-day Sabbatarianism, all Chick-fil-A locations are closed on Sundays,[10][56] Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

[66][67] In 2011, food blogger and activist Vani Hari noted that Chick-fil-A sandwiches contained nearly 100 ingredients, including peanut oil preserved with tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), made from butane.

[69] In December 2013, Chick-fil-A said that it was removing high-fructose corn syrup and artificial dyes, and was testing a new peanut oil[needs update].

[77] The company expanded to other areas of Ontario in 2021, opening standalone locations with drive-through restaurants in Kitchener in August and Windsor in October.

The store was closed in January 2020 amidst protests and controversy from locals and customers regarding the chain's former donations to charities supporting anti-LGBT rights causes.

[87] Later, the company changed some policies, appointing its first head of diversity in 2020, and focused its charitable activities on education and hunger alleviation rather than opponents of same-sex marriage.

Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy announced in March 2023 that it planned to open restaurants in Asia and Europe by 2026, and was set to expand to five overseas markets by 2030.

[9] The slogan is often seen in advertisements featuring Holstein dairy cows[96] that are often seen wearing (or holding) signs that (usually) read "Eat Mor Chikin" in capital letters.

[99] The corporation has successfully protested at least 30 instances of the use of an "eat more" phrase, saying that the use would cause confusion of the public, dilute the distinctiveness of their intellectual property, and diminish its value.

[101] The incident drew criticism from Vermont governor Peter Shumlin, and created backlash against what he termed Chick-fil-A's "corporate bullying".

[102] On December 11, 2014, Bo Muller-Moore announced that the U.S. Patent Office granted his application to trademark his "Eat More Kale" phrase.

His public fight drew regional and national attention, the support of Shumlin, and a team of pro-bono law students from the University of New Hampshire legal clinic.

[116] Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Chicago Alderman Proco "Joe" Moreno said they hoped to block franchise expansion into their areas.

[117] The proposed local bans drew criticism from liberal pundits, legal experts, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

[118] The Jim Henson Company, which had a Pajanimals kids' meal toy licensing arrangement with Chick-fil-A, said it would cease its business relationship, and donate the payment to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

[120] Chick-fil-A released a statement on July 31, 2012, saying, "We are a restaurant company focused on food, service, and hospitality; our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.

[9][126][127] In a November 18, 2019, interview, Chick-fil-A president Tim Tassopoulos said the company would stop donating to The Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

The long drive-through lines have been reported to cause traffic backups, blocking emergency vehicles and city buses and increasing the risk of collisions and pedestrian injuries.

There are currently five of the original eleven Chick-fil-A Dwarf House restaurants still operating in the metro Atlanta area, including Duluth, Riverdale, Jonesboro, Forest Park and Fayetteville.