Plans advance for Delaware city’s first Chick-fil-A restaurant

• The city’s Planning Commission has approved development plans for Delaware’s first Chick-fil-A, and the plans will now go to City Council.
• The restaurant is part of the new Trailhead Crossing development near Sunbury Road.
• There isn’t an opening date set yet, but once City Council approval is received crews will be constructing the building this year and into 2027.

Plans for one of the nation’s most popular fast-food chains to open a location in the city of Delaware are moving forward.

Chick-fil-A is planning a new 5,033-square-foot restaurant with a double drive-through lane on a nearly 2-acre site on Delaware’s east side.

The development plans are headed to Delaware City Council after the city’s Planning Commission approved them July 1.

This location would be the first Chick-fil-A in the city of Delaware, but not in the county. The chain has a location in Lewis Center and three in the Polaris area, according to the company’s website.

The popular chicken restaurant, a Chipotle location and other to-be-announced restaurants and retail are part of a new Trailhead Crossing development planned on the eastern edge of Delaware near Sunbury Road (State Route 36) and Sky View Lane, documents indicate. City council approved rezoning the site in February.

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The restaurant will include 92 indoor seats, an outdoor patio with 20 seats and 68 parking spots, planning documents show.

An internal access drive connecting to Sky View Lane from the west and Biltmore Drive from the north will be built within the site and will connect to all the lots within the Trailhead Crossing development. The access from Sky View Lane will be right-in/right-out only. The site will not have access directly from Sunbury Road, city documents state.

Chris Tebbe, an engineer with the Dublin-based firm Tebbe Civil Engineering, didn’t know an exact opening date for the restaurant, but said once plans are approved by the City Council, crews will be working on the location this year into next year.

Delaware County and eastern Columbus suburbs reporter Maria DeVito can be reached at mdevito@dispatch.com and @mariadevito13.dispatch.com on Bluesky and @MariaDeVito13 on X.