Fast-food chains continue expanding into smaller California markets as brands look beyond the state’s largest metro areas for new restaurant growth. In Chico, that trend is about to become tangible: Chick-fil-A said its first restaurant in the city is scheduled to open on Thursday, August 13. The opening follows years of local anticipation, public review and construction work tied to the south Chico site.
Chick-fil-A has set an opening date for its first Chico restaurant
Chick-fil-A announced on August 3 that its first Chico restaurant, Chick-fil-A South Chico, will begin serving customers on Thursday, August 13, at 6:30 a.m. The company said the restaurant is located at 2018 Forest Ave. and will be operated by local Owner-Operator Matt Hock. Chick-fil-A also said the opening will bring approximately 140 jobs to the Chico community.
The restaurant will offer dine-in, drive-thru, carry-out and delivery, according to the company’s opening announcement. Chick-fil-A said the store will operate Monday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. The company also confirmed an opening-day promotion tied to its cow-print branding, with a free entrée available for guests who arrive wearing cow print.
The scale of the project had already been visible in city planning documents before the opening announcement. A Chico Planning Commission agenda report for Use Permit 24-08 and Architectural Review 24-05 described the proposal as a new 4,667-square-foot quick-service restaurant with a dual-lane drive-thru. The same city report said the site plan included 82 parking spaces, 10 bicycle spaces and drive-thru stacking for up to 42 vehicles.
The opening is a local milestone for Chico’s south retail corridor
For Chico residents, the significance is straightforward: this will be the city’s first permanent Chick-fil-A location. Until now, customers looking for the chain had to travel to other cities, a gap that helped make the project one of the more closely watched restaurant openings in the area. Chick-fil-A’s official California location listings now include the Chico restaurant at 2018 Forest Ave., signaling that the store is being added to the chain’s active footprint in the state.
The site sits on the west side of Forest Avenue just north of Baney Lane, according to Chico planning records. City documents describe the area as part of a commercial corridor suited to auto-oriented retail and note that the project includes a main entrance from Forest Avenue and a secondary entrance from Baney Lane. That places the restaurant in a heavily trafficked part of south Chico near other major retail uses.
What has been confirmed is the opening date, operator, address, operating hours and job estimate. What has not been publicly detailed is a broader city-by-city breakdown of future Chick-fil-A expansion plans in the Chico area beyond this location. The company also has not released any public timeline for a second Chico restaurant.
City approvals and broader expansion trends help explain why the opening took time
The project’s path helps explain why Chico residents waited so long. In April 2025, Chico’s Planning Commission approved the project’s use permit and architectural review, according to city records and local reporting by the Enterprise-Record. The city agenda report said the restaurant required approval for drive-through sales in the Regional Commercial zoning district and that some approvals were contingent on related parcel-map actions for the broader site.
Those records also show the project was reviewed as infill commercial development under local zoning and California environmental rules. The city report said the drive-thru design provided enough vehicle queuing to avoid spilling into Forest Avenue and described the use as compatible with surrounding commercial development. In other words, the opening depended not just on construction, but on traffic circulation, parcel configuration and formal land-use review.
The timing also fits Chick-fil-A’s wider California expansion. On its press materials page, the company says each new restaurant opening typically creates 80 to 120 jobs, though the Chico announcement put this site at about 140 jobs. For Chico customers, the practical takeaway is now clear: barring any last-minute changes, the city’s first Chick-fil-A is set to begin service on August 13, with dine-in, drive-thru, carry-out and delivery available from opening day.