Chick-fil-A set to open its first Northern Irish location later this month

Chick-fil-A restaurant
-Credit:Gary Hershorn/Getty Images


The location of Northern Ireland's first Chick-fil-A restaurant has been confirmed. The US fast-food giant has entered into a new licensing partnership with Applegreen Northern Ireland, where it will open its first two stores in the country.

Chick-fil-A will open at Applegreen’s Lisburn South motorway service area on the M1 later this month, followed by the second location at Applegreen Templepatrick on the M2 in March.

The new restaurants will create 70 new jobs, bringing Applegreen’s overall employment numbers in Northern Ireland to 351.

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Applegreen already has a very successful partnership with Chick-fil-A in the United States, as it operates 14 of its restaurants at its US-based motorway service areas.

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Chick-fil-A, known for its Original Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich and "signature hospitality", is the third largest quick service restaurant company by sales volume in the United States, and operates more than 3,000 restaurants across the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada.

Caroline Cherington, Regional Operations Director for Applegreen, Northern Ireland said: "We are delighted to be bringing Chick-fil-A to Northern Ireland with this new partnership agreement,.

"Having successfully operated Chick-fil-A restaurants in the United States for several years, we know how much customers love their high-quality food, and we’re excited to introduce this brand to a new audience."

The opening of the new restaurants follows significant upgrades to the Applegreen service areas at Lisburn South and Templepatrick in recent months, which also saw the addition of new M&S Food stores at both locations.

Applegreen operates five locations in Northern Ireland. The two largest sites are just outside Lisburn, on the northern and southern sides of the M1 motorway, and it also has sites in Templepatrick, Ballymena, and Hillsborough.

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