Just down the street from the Freedom Tower in New York City, the fried chicken sandwich chain Chick-fil-Aβs newest restaurant, and its largest to date, opened on Thursday morning. The eatery spirals up five stories, rising from a basement-level kitchen to cashiers on the ground level, and up through two levels of indoor seating that are capped by a rooftop deck. Thereβs seating for 140 people.
The opening of the behemoth store reflects the franchiseβs quickly changing position in the fast-food matrix. With about $9 billion in sales in 2017, the Atlanta-based restaurant β as well known for its sandwiches as for its strong Christian values β today ranks seventh nationwide among fast-food chains in terms of sales, but itβs on track to become the third-largest in the next two years, behind McDonaldβs and Starbucks, according to restaurant consultancy Technomic.
βThe trajectory weβre on would support that,β said a Chick-fil-A spokesperson when asked about the possibility of rising to the top three by 2020.
Helping to fuel this growth is technology such as mobile ordering and on-site ordering by tablet, which have sped up Chick-fil-Aβs service, brought in new customers, and encouraged old customers to come more often. Yet digital progress presents a challenge to Chick-fil-A: how to translate its trademark cheery service and abundant free food in stores β which helped create its loyal customers in the first place β when its primary point of contact with some customers becomes a touchscreen.
These small details in service are βpart of the context in which we operate Chick-fil-A,β said the companyβs vice president of restaurant experience, David Farmer, who describes his mission as creating β[NASCAR] pit crew efficiency, but where you feel like you just got hugged in the process ... Weβd better not lose our edge relative to service and hospitality.β
Thus far, this edge has paid off. The company scores well above fast-food chains overall when it comes to satisfaction, positive buzz, and likelihood of purchase, according to YouGov BrandIndex.
βThe pathway is in Chick-fil-Aβs favor in terms of continuing to leapfrog iconic chains that are still doing fine,β said Technomic senior principal David Henkes. Old-school fast-food companies are doing well again after years of losing ground to higher-end chains like Chipotle, he said, βbut Chick-fil-A is doing phenomenally.β

Since its first location opened in 1967 in Atlanta, Chick-fil-A has steadily expanded, recently branching further away from its Southeast home base. It opens about 100 new stores each year, amounting to 2,300 total locations today, and they manage to stay remarkably busy.
The average Chick-fil-A restaurant rings up more than $4 million in annual sales, according to QSR magazine, millions more than virtually any other restaurant chainβs locations, including giants like McDonaldβs, Burger King, and Wendyβs β despite Chick-fil-A being open just six days a week. (All restaurants close on Sundays.) The average McDonaldβs, for instance, makes about $2.5 million per year.
βWeβre constantly keeping our eyes on the horizon, and what major tech shifts could be happening,β said Michael Lage, Chick-fil-Aβs senior manager of customer digital experience. βWe want to be even faster, more personal, more convenient.β
Farmer describes his mission as creating β[NASCAR] pit crew efficiency, but where you feel like you just got hugged in the process.β
In just the last few years, digital upgrades like the Chick-fil-A One app, which spent a week at the top of Appleβs App Store when it launched in 2016, and ordering on-site by tablet, which began in 2014, have helped to move an unthinkable number of customers through its stores. One drive-thru in Oklahoma City recently served 216 cars in one hour, according to a company spokesperson. Chick-fil-Aβs first New York store rings up between 2,500 and 2,600 transactions on busy days, owner Oscar Fittipaldi told BuzzFeed News, and he said some locations are even busier.
βWe have become a big company,β said Bryan Bullington, a Chick-fil-A owner in Houston who runs one of its most-visited locations. The chain has come a long way since he joined in 2001, he said, when it did not accept credit cards, a subject that sparked a big battle internally at the time. Today, Bullington said, some owners are even advocating for cash-free stores.
βTechnology, competition, healthy food trends, and on-demand delivery are all pressing in on us. The cost pressures with food and insurance and a better work environment have all changed dramatically since I came to Chick-fil-A. But fundamentally weβre the sameβ¦ Weβre still chicken,β Bullington said.
My man getting me some chick fil A at this time means Soo much to me then any Jewerly he ever got me π©π©π©π©β€οΈβ€οΈπππ
As more people drift from shopping at brick-and-mortar stores to the internet, Chick-fil-Aβs innovation efforts are focused not on new menu items, but on improving wait times and keeping customers flowing through. Chick-fil-Aβs Farmer said, βThe closest Chick-fil-A to my home is in the parking lot of a Target. And I just donβt go to Target because of online shopping.β
The shift of shoppers away from physical stores may not appear to be an obvious threat to restaurants, but it's one that former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has been warning about for years, calling it a βseismic changeβ in consumer behavior. Starbucks, which has led the restaurant industry in leveraging consumer-facing technology, launched a mobile order and pay app nationwide in 2015 that now represents 11% of US transactions for the company.
βConvenience is the big thing,β said Lage. Chick-fil-Aβs app has been downloaded by 10 million users so far. And the chain, like so many others, is now testing options for meal delivery.
Yet even as massive sales volumes pressure Chick-fil-A to shorten some interactions with customers and bypass others, Farmer said he remains committed to old-fashioned hospitality. βI donβt think thatβs everybodyβs angle, but itβs our angle. You have a transaction and itβs functional and it works. But where do you go where the transaction is uplifting?β
Chick Fil A has streamlined the FUCK out of drive-thrus and every other fast food company needs to take note I hopped in a line with like 20 cars, two lanes of cars, and I was in and out of that bitch in no more than five minutes
Chick-fil-Aβs ascent was no sure bet even five years ago. In 2013, the company was the ninth-largest fast-food chain in the US, and it was still reeling from a public relations fiasco set off a year earlier when then-chief operating officer Dan Cathy (now CEO), made public comments against same-sex marriage, saying he supported βthe biblical definition of the family unit.β
Consumer threats to boycott the chain didnβt meaningfully impact business β in the five years since the controversy erupted, Chick-fil-Aβs overall sales roughly doubled and hundreds of successful new restaurants have opened. But Cathyβs comments cast a long shadow, even as Chick-fil-A withdrew from political commentary as a matter of corporate strategy.
In 2015, the Denver City Council delayed approval of a new Chick-fil-A in Denver International Airport over concerns of discrimination. (It was approved after the company reassured the council of its employment policies.) A spokesperson told BuzzFeed News, βDo we have gay team members? Yes. Do we have straight team members? Yes. Do we distinguish when we tell their stories of service? No.β
In 2016, several months after Chick-fil-Aβs high-profile opening of its first store in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio discouraged people from supporting the business. βWhat the ownership of Chick-fil-A has said is wrong,β the mayor said at a press conference at the time.
Years later, questions still linger about Chick-fil-Aβs politics, despite the companyβs silence. Asked about a 2017 ThinkProgress post that said the chain continues to donate to anti-LGBT organizations β it named the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Salvation Army β a spokesperson replied, βThe Chick-fil-A Foundation is focused on supporting youth in the areas of education, entrepreneurship, and development of emerging leaders β including more than $46 million in scholarships to Team Members.β
And while the 2012 incident cemented the companyβs image as a Christian restaurant for some consumers, Farmer said its founder, who died in 2014, βnever saw Chick-fil-A as a Christian business. That label made him uncomfortable.β
Today Chick-fil-Aβs stated corporate purpose remains unchanged: βTo glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A.β

βIt got controversial a few years ago with the Christian focus of the owners, but it doesnβt seem to have slowed Chick-fil-A at all. If anything, their growth has accelerated,β said Henkes. βI still see traces of that [controversy] at times. But itβs probably more a thing on the internet and on Twitter than in real life.β
Gays defiantly eating Chick-fil-a is my favorite genre of tweet. https://t.co/JjJaTEVleb
Politics aside, Chick fil a has got their operation down
@joshwertheim Chick fil a has shitty politics but is otherwise delicious and nutritious. So I donate to a good cause every time I eat there, usually planned Parenthood
Chick-fil-A is trying to move as far away from that controversy as possible, saying simply that the company treats everyone with βhonor, dignity and respect,β and it's leveraging technology to provide a great customer experience.
βThe focus at corporate, the leading measure, is to focus on doing the right thing, the right work. If we get better, growth will follow closely behind,β said Bullington. β