Chick-fil-A shuts every Sunday and still outsells rivals per restaurant
In 2022 the average Chick-fil-A took in $6.71 million, more than any other American fast-food chain, while opening only six days a week. Founder Truett Cathy closed on Sundays from the start. His son later said part of the reason was simple: by Sunday his father was worn out.
Cathy opened a diner called the Dwarf Grill near Atlanta in 1946, feeding workers from a nearby Ford plant. In 1961 he found a pressure fryer that cooked a chicken sandwich as fast as a hamburger and registered the Chick-fil-A name, the capital A meant to suggest grade A quality. The sandwich was first licensed to more than fifty eateries, including Waffle House and the Houston Astrodome, before the first dedicated shop opened in an Atlanta mall food court in 1967. The first standalone restaurant followed in 1986.
The company's slogan claims it invented the chicken sandwich, which is not true, though it was the first national chain to build its menu around one. It keeps the menu short and leans on service. The company builds and owns the restaurants, and franchisees need only a $10,000 initial investment but face months of selection and training.
The numbers are striking. In 2024 systemwide sales reached $22 billion from 3,109 locations, against McDonald's $53.5 billion from 13,559 US outlets, and average sales per location hit $7.5 million. Up to 60 percent of sales now come through the drive-through, and queues have caused traffic complaints in more than 20 states. In 2019 Popeyes launched a rival sandwich, kicking off what became known as the chicken sandwich wars.
The Sunday rule is strict, applying even at stadiums on game days, though the chain has broken it occasionally, such as feeding travellers stranded by an Atlanta airport power cut in 2017. Some promises have shifted: a 2014 pledge to serve antibiotic-free chicken was loosened in 2024, and a cage-free egg commitment was dropped in 2025. In 2025 it also moved lemonade production to a single plant that can process up to 35 truckloads of lemons a day.
Source: Chick-fil-A
