Third Chick-fil-A Restaurant Will Likely Be Opening in Cedar Rapids

Cedar Rapids and the surrounding area have long had a love affair with food from Chick-fil-A, and it appears that love will soon be rewarded with a third location in Cedar Rapids.

Chick-fil-A opened their first freestanding store in Cedar Rapids on Collins Road, near Lindale Mall, in October of 2012. In August of 2015, a freestanding store opened at Westdale, off Edgewood Road SW. However, Chick-fil-A's history in Cedar Rapids pre-dates both of those locations.

The first Chick-fil-A in the city opened when Westdale Mall did. That was in October of 1979. The 2012 photo below from our television partner, KCRG TV-9, is from a Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day. The restaurant remained on the lower level of Westdale Mall until the mall closed at the end of March 2014.

It now appears very likely a third standalone Chick-fil-A will be opening in Cedar Rapids. We already have preliminary renderings of what the building could look like.

*This summer, the American Customer Satisfaction Index Restaurant Study, ranked Chick-fil-A highest in customer satisfaction for the ninth consecutive year.

The restaurant would be on the south side of Blairs Ferry Road NE, between I-380 and Edgewood Road, on property owned by First of Assembly of God Church. Placing this particular restaurant there makes perfect sense since Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays.

The proposed 5,000+ square foot restaurant would sit approximately in this location (see photo below), west of Linn Area Credit Union, in the area where this house is now located. According to a preliminary site plan, the restaurant would feature a dual drive-thru that wraps around three-quarters of the building. The Chick-fil-A would seat 78 inside, and an additional 28 on an outdoor patio.

A couple of things have to happen, to make it a reality. At Tuesday's (12/5) Cedar Rapids City Council meeting, a public hearing is expected to be set for December 19.

The Cedar Rapids City Planning Commission plans to discuss the proposed rezoning at its meeting this Thursday, December 7, in advance of the scheduled public hearing. According to their agenda packet, "The proposed rezoning is in accord with the Comprehensive Plan... Staff recommends approval of the rezoning request."

After the public hearing, two more readings by the Cedar Rapids City Council would be required by Iowa law, to make rezoning final.