How Chick-fil-A grew from a small Southern diner to the third-largest restaurant chain in the US

Chick-fil-A has come a long way since opening as a small roadside diner in Georgia in 1946. Irene Jiang / Business Insider In 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.