Chick-fil-A is officially opening its doors in London this week.
The controversial American fast food chain, known for its chicken sandwich, waffle fries, and an array of sauces, has set up shop in Kingston.
This will be its second restaurant in the UK, following a launch in Leeds in October 2025. The chain also has a location in Belfast.
Along with the announcement of a new location, the full menu for London has been revealed, as well as the opening hours.
Here’s everything you need to know…
When is Chick-fil-A opening in London?
Chick-fil-A’s first London location will be opening its doors in Kingston upon Thames on Thursday, March 5.
The fast food restaurant will serve customers Monday through Saturday from 10 am until 10 pm.
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However, it won’t be open on Sundays – a tradition at the chain that originated in the States, and is said to date back to the founder, Truett Cathy.
A message on the chain’s website claims Truett wanted his staff to have the day off as he knew what it was like to work ‘seven days a week in a restaurant open 24 hours’.
However, as a devout Southern Baptist who taught Sunday school for more than 50 years, there was likely a bit more to it under the surface.
A spokesperson for Chick-fil-A told Metro: ‘Closing on Sunday is a tradition that dates back to Chick-fil-A’s founder Truett Cathy, who wanted to give his team members a day to rest, spend time with family or worship if they chose to – and we continue to honour that sentiment today.’
What’s on the Chick-fil-A menu in the UK?
The menu features several different versions of Chick-fil-A’s chicken sandwich, including a deluxe and a spicy version.
The classic is made with boneless seasoned chicken breast, which is breaded and cooked in 100% refined peanut oil. This is served on a toasted bun with sliced dill pickles.
Grilled chicken sandwiches are also available, as well as an option of fried or grilled chicken nuggets.
Sides are limited to either the iconic waffle fries, a side salad, or a fruit cup, and there are also larger salads available as a main dish. There are two options: a Cobb Salad or a Spicy Fiesta.
A number of sauces and dressings are available incluidng Chick-fil-A sauce, barbeque sauce, sweet & spicy sriracha, garden herb ranch, chilli lime vinaigrette, and creamy Caesar dressing.
As for drinks, there is a selection of milkshakes in flavours such as vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and cookies & cream, as well as homemade lemonades and ice tea.
Children’s meals are also available, featuring a choice of nuggets, a small side of waffle fries or a fruit cup, and a drink.
Why is there controversy around Chick-fil-A?
This isn’t the first time Chick-fil-A has been in the UK, and the chain’s first foray didn’t quite go to plan.
The fast food joint set up shop in Reading in 2019, but just six months after the restaurant opened, it was shuttered.
The closure followed major customer backlash over the controversial views on same-sex marriage held by Chick-fil-A’s chairman, as well as donations that had been made by the founder’s charitable foundation to anti-LGBT groups.
And while customers were seen queuing down the street when the Leeds branch launched, and excitement is rising around the London opening, there are still many who are unhappy about the chicken chain’s return.
Campaigners from the Peter Tatchell Foundation recently picketed the head office location in London, branding the business ‘toxic’ and claiming it’s ‘not welcome here’.
As well as founding Chick-fil-A, Truett Cathy also founded the WinShape Foundation, a Christian non-profit organisation that has ‘ministries’ to serve ‘children, marriages, work teams, foster families and more’, according to its website.
WinShape, which is largely funded by the Cathy family, has previously received funding from Chick-fil-A Inc., which is listed in tax filings as contributing over $1 million in 2022.
The foundation has come under fire for having previously donated to the National Christian Foundation, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and the Salvation Army.
Chick-fil-A has since confirmed they no longer fund these organisations and instead focuses its giving on ‘education, homelessness, and hunger’.
The chain previously told the BBC: ‘Our giving has always focused on youth and education. We have never donated with the purpose of supporting a social or political agenda.’
Truett died in September 2014, but the fast food chain remains in his family today, with Truett’s son Dan becoming chairman in 2013 and Dan’s son Andrew being named the CEO in 2021.
And the Cathy family’s religious views have continued to spark controversy, especially when Dan spoke out about his views on same-sex marriage in 2012, confirming that he believed in ‘the biblical definition of the family unit’.
However, he later told the Atlanta Journal-Consitution he’d made a ‘mistake’ taking a public stance, but admitted his views hadn’t changed: ‘I think the time of truths and principles are captured and codified in God’s word and I’m just personally committed to that.’
He added: ‘I know others feel very different from that and I respect their opinion and I hope that they would be respectful of mine.’
While some things have changed in the last seven years, with Chick-fil-A appointing its first head of diversity in 2020, the chain remains a very conservative business, with ‘glorify God’ at the heart of its corporate mission.
When was Chick-fil-A founded and how many restaurants are there?
Truett opened his first restaurant in Atlanta in 1946, which was originally known as the Dwarf Grill. It was there that he created the original Chick-fil-A sandwich, though the recipe wasn’t ‘perfected’ until 1964.
The very first Chick-fil-A opened after this in 1967 in Atlanta’s Greenbriar Mall, and there are now more than 3,000 restaurants across the US, Puerto Rico, Canada, and the UK.
Following on from the opening of the new Leeds and London restaurant, Chick-fil-A has confirmed plans to open further sites across the UK over the next few years, including in Liverpool.
A version of this article was first published on October 27, 2025.
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