How Chick-fil-A grew from a small Southern diner to the third-largest restaurant chain in the US
Source: Business Insider ·
Chick-fil-A has come a long way since opening as a small roadside diner in Georgia in 1946.
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Chick-fil-A has come a long way since opening as a small roadside diner in Georgia in 1946.Irene Jiang / Business InsiderIn 1946, Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy opened the Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Georgia.In 1967, Cathy opened the first Chick-fil-A and invented the restaurant's iconic chicken sandwich.Chick-fil-A is now the third-largest restaurant chain in the US.Eighty years after Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy opened his first restaurant, Chick-fil-A is now the third-largest restaurant brand in the country.The family-owned chain has since grown to more than 3,200 US restaurants and generated nearly $24 billion in US systemwide sales in 2025, trailing only McDonald’s and Starbucks, per Technomic's Top 500 chains report.The chicken chain's rise has not been without controversy.Chick-fil-A faced widespread backlash in 2012 after Cathy's son Dan, then the company’s CEO, publicly opposed same-sex marriage, while the company and its foundation were criticized for donations to…