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Major US fast food chain reveals first locations for UK restaurants – is one near you?
Plus, we've explained what's coming to the menu
A MAJOR US fast food chain has confirmed the exact locations of its first UK restaurants, The Sun can reveal.
American fast food giant Chick-fil-A is crossing the pond and bringing its beloved chicken sandwiches to our high streets next year.
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The Sun can exclusively reveal the exact locations of their first five permanent UK restaurants.
The chain last opened a temporary pop-up in Reading back in 2019.
Chick-fil-A operates more than 3,000 sites across the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada.
As part of its UK-wide expansion, the fast food chain has confirmed that it will open two restaurants in Belfast and single sites in Leeds, Liverpool, and London.
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The sites will open over two years starting in 2025, and Chick-fil-A has now opened applications for those wishing to take on a franchise.
The brand's initial expansion into the UK will create approximately 400 new jobs.
Anita Costello, chief international officer at Chick-fil-A, Inc, told The Sun: "Serving communities is at the heart of everything we do, and we look forward to bringing Chick-fil-A's delicious food and signature hospitality to Belfast, Leeds, Liverpool and London, and continuing our long-term investment in the U.K.
"From job creation to supporting local causes, we are excited about the positive impact our first restaurants will have in the communities they serve."
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We've already had a first taste of what will be on the menu when the first store opens next year.
Several signature items, including the chain's most popular menu item, the original Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich, nuggets, and waffle fries, will be venturing across the pond.
The Sun tries Chick-fil-A's UK menu before anyone else - it tastes better than McDonald's and KFC
The brand's expansion into the UK will also bring tasty but unfamiliar options not commonly available in the UK, including savoury biscuits and ranch-flavoured dipping sauces.
Chick-fil-A's UK-based restaurants plan to serve chicken sourced from the UK and Ireland, along with 100% free-range eggs from welfare-certified farms.
For now, eager fans of the chain will need to hold tight to find out exactly what will be served in its UK restaurants.
Ahead of its high street launch, The Sun visited the company's headquarters in Atlanta to find out what the fuss is all about.
NEW UK LOCATIONS REVEALED
As part of its UK-wide expansion, the Chick-fil-A has confirmed that it will open five resturants in the following locations:
- Belfast
- Leeds
- Liverpool
- London
The first branch is set to open in the first quarter of 2025.
Chick-fil-A is a family-run business that operates a franchise-style system.
Anyone can apply to operate a restaurant, and applications for potential franchisees wishing to open a UK restaurant are now open.
However, Chick-fil-A's model differs from other fast food chains we know in the UK - like McDonald's, KFC or Burger King - as franchisees don't own the sites themselves.
Franchisees - or operators, as they are known - run the businesses daily, but Chick-fil-A owns the rest, including the brick-and-mortar site.
This means the company owns the actual restaurant, while the franchisee operates the business on their behalf, resulting in a smaller outlay and less risk for operators.
In the US, the initial franchise agreement costs just $10,000 (£7,932), while a McDonald's franchise typically costs between £350k and £1,85 million in the UK.
Chick-fil-A also only lets its operators run up to three stores, and the majority of them only run a single location.
With other fast food chains, you can run several at once and even build a mini-empire, though that requires significant investment.
Like in the US, each UK restaurant will be able to participate in Chick-fil-A's Shared Table programme.
This initiative redirects surplus food from Chick-fil-A restaurants to local soup kitchens, shelters, food banks, and non-profits in need.
Joanna Symonds, head of UK operations, said: "We've always cared about the impact of our restaurants on the local communities that we serve, and we strive to positively impact areas throughout the UK"
What is Chick-fil-A?
CHICK-FIL-A is an American fast food restaurant specialising in chicken sandwiches.
The eatery was originally founded in College Park, Georgia as the Dwarf Grill in 1946 before it was eventually renamed Chick-Fil-A in 1967.
The fast food chain operates more than 3,000 restaurants, primarily in the US, with locations in 48 states.
They also have locations in Puerto Rico and Canada.
Chick-fil-A also offers catering services for parties and events within the US.
The brand has always closed on Sundays after its founder, Truett Cathy, took the decision to do so in 1946.
Having worked seven days a week in restaurants open 24 hours, Truett saw the importance of closing on Sundays so that he and his employees could set aside one day to rest, enjoy time with their families and loved ones, or worship if they chose.
The move to open in the UK comes after Chick-fil-A opened a temporary pop-up branch in Reading in 2019.
However, the town centre restaurant shut after its six-month lease expired in 2020.
It came after controversy around comments by the company's then-chief executive, Dan Cathy, opposing same-sex marriage.
While we don't know where Chick-fil-A plans to open its new UK restaurants just yet, the company told The Sun that they will be strategically located across the UK to give everyone access to the brand.
Like in the US, restaurants in the UK will be closed on Sunday.
The chain's most popular menu items, including the original Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich, nuggets, waffle fries, and spicy deluxe chicken sandwich, will all appear on UK high streets in 2025.
US FAST FOOD EXPANSION INTO THE UK
Chick-fil-A is not the only US fast-food chain to have taken a leap across the pond in recent years.
In July, Dave's Hot Chicken announced plans to open 60 restaurants across the UK and Ireland.
Popeyes entered the UK market in 2021 and has proved to be a hit with ravenous customers ever since.
In just 30 months, the brand opened over 38 restaurants across the UK.
It has plans to reach the 60-restaurant milestone by the end of 2024.
US burger chain Wendy's, which already has 31 sites in the UK, will also cut the ribbon on eight new locations this year.
The chain returned to the UK high street in 2021 after a 20-year hiatus.
Wendy's is most famous for its square-shaped hamburgers, designed to maximize the amount of meat in every bite.
Shake Shack, which started out as a hotdog cart, recently opened its first restaurant inside a UK train station.
Brits commuting in St. Pancras International Station can now grab their favourite burgers before jumping onto their train.
The new spot marks the fast food giant's 16th location in the UK since it was launched in Covent Garden in 2013.
While most of Shake Shack's UK sites are based in London, bosses have expanded into other locations in recent years, including Essex, Oxford, and Cardiff.
Shake Shack's humble beginnings trace back to a New York hot dog cart helmed by Randy Garutti.
Wingstop currently operates 39 sites across the UK and will open 15 more in 2024.
Lemon Pepper Holdings, which runs the fast food chain's UK portfolio, said the move would create up to 750 jobs.
The US hospitality brand said it is its biggest year of expansion since launching Wingstop in the UK six years ago.
Dunkin' Donuts, which currently has 30 stores in the UK, hopes to open 30 new branches over the next couple of years as part of a major expansion plan.
Dunkin' Donuts landed in the UK in St John's in Liverpool in May 2016.
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The chain is huge in the US, with almost 9,500 stores spread across the country.
It sells a range of doughnuts, other sweet treats, and hot and cold drinks.
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