Who founded the first Chick-fil-A restaurant, opened at an Atlanta shopping center in 1967?

S. Truett Cathy founded the first Chick-fil-A restaurant, which opened at an Atlanta shopping center in 1967.

Cathy had already built restaurant experience through the Dwarf Grill, later renamed the Dwarf House, in Hapeville, Georgia. He developed the boneless chicken sandwich that became the basis of Chick-fil-A’s menu and opened the first Chick-fil-A location at Greenbriar Shopping Center in Atlanta.

The restaurant introduced the Chick-fil-A brand as a focused chicken-sandwich concept. Cathy’s company expanded primarily through franchised restaurant operators, while maintaining distinctive operating policies such as closing restaurants on Sundays.

Dan Cathy, Truett Cathy’s son, later became Chick-fil-A’s president and chief executive. That family connection sometimes causes people to name Dan as the founder, but the company credits S. Truett Cathy with founding it.