We Visited Chick-fil-A's First Toronto Location and Here’s What You Need to Know
By Thomas Kenzaki
September 6, 2019Chick-fil-A officially opens the doors to its first Canadian franchised restaurant location in Toronto today and I got a sneak peek inside. Here’s what I learned and also what you can expect when you drop by for a visit.
The announcement of Chick-fil-A’s international expansion into Canada first broke the news in July of last year and we recently learned details about their Canadian menu and pricing.
The only thing left was to wait until the restaurant officially opened and find out what Canadians thought of the popular US quick-service chain.
The restaurant is located at the prime downtown Toronto intersection of Yonge and Bloor. The storefront features floor to ceiling glass windows which bring a lot of natural light into the restaurant.
Upon entering, there are doors to your left and right. Guests will be directed in through the left door as this is where the queue to the counter is located.
The queue features some fun art including a sign welcoming guests to Toronto in multiple languages. Towards the back you’ll find huge tile blocks on the wall featuring their 7 signature sauces (obviously not to scale) which is unique to this location.
During busier periods (assume this to be all opening hours for the first few months), Chick-fil-A employees will be greeting guests in line and taking their orders on tablets to help speed up the time it takes to get orders out.
The counter area has multiple registers, each beside a soft drink dispenser. On the front of each dispenser is another guide to their sauces plus their salad dressings.
Like in the US, Chick-fil-A serves up Coca-Cola soft drinks (sorry Pepsi fans). A pleasant surprise was that Canada Dry is available which often isn’t an option at quick-service restaurants.
Just to the right of the registers you’ll find the clearly marked order pickup area. This area isn’t that big so hopefully their staff can keep up with the large crowds that they’ll be seeing.
The restaurant is setup to seat 70 guests through a mix of bar stool style seats, high top tables, standard tables, and a large community style table.
Chick-fil-A is known for their exceptional customer service, which includes their dining room hosts who not only refresh drinks, but also help those dining-in find tables. Even so, you might have a hard time finding a place to sit (especially for larger groups) during busier times.
The bathrooms are located at the back of the restaurant and were as clean as you’d expect from a place that wasn’t yet open to the public. From personal experience, Chick-fil-A bathrooms are typically very well maintained so these may just be the nicest restrooms to use in the area.
After taking a tour of the new restaurant, I’d have to say that it’s a very modern and well designed space. The layout and features of the restaurant makes me believe that they’ll be able to push orders out fast and keep the lines moving.
I do wish they would’ve launched their popular Chick-fil-A mobile app in Canada, which includes mobile ordering and a rewards system, but hopefully that’s something they’re already working on.
Whether you’re a fan of Chick-fil-A or not, they’re now open for business here in Canada with plans to keep expanding across the GTA (15 stores within 5 years). If they can keep up the same high quality of food and exceptional customer service as in the US, they’ll likely see a lot of success here.
Will you be stopping by the new Yonge and Bloor location? Let us know in the comments below.
Showing 40 Most Recent Comments
View allhttps://curiocity.com/chick-fil-a-burli ... ario-2024/
and
https://www.insauga.com/chick-fil-a-con ... urlington/
Exciting. That is the location.
no crave for this .... since i air fry my own nuggets and make my own dipping sauce ... sure beats the HELL out of fighting with losers in the parking lot in line ... and definitely my time is NOT WORTH waiting for this ...
wait till the RUSH dies and see if i want it (apparently a crap load of people has not tried this because the other locations are too far to drive .... ooooooo ).
More interested in the Mucho Burrito and Thai Express that will be opening up.
I tried turning left at the lights at Taunton and wasn't able to. I couldn't even get into the plaza as the lineup stretched out of the parking lot, onto the street and blocked the intersection where the traffic lights are. There might have been 1 car able to turn left every other light and the 3-4 cars ahead of me gave up as well. There has to be 15+ cars trying to turn right every time the light stopped and there was no way anyone was turning left from the opposite direction.
Just nuts. I'll try again in a few weeks
And a few job postings in Edmonton, AB.
(& They are right next door to Chick fil a also, in STC...)
I'm not going to Square One and dealing with the crowds there just to get a sandwich.
We did get a Dave's Hot Chicken in Burlington but meh.. kind of expensive.
I like that they have milkshakes....to me, having a milkshake with my greasy burger and fries is a good thing. The sandwich itself is fine, but it doesn't stand out to me against the popeyes/mb. I like that more chains are offering grilled (not fried) sandwiches which should be a bit healthier (my wife often chooses that)
Overall, I might choose CFA over other food court choices, but probably wouldn't go out of my way to go there. I've never been to Canadian one.....just the US ones a few times. I also wish there were better side choices like onion rings at popeyes
"Chick-fil-A Square One Shopping Centre will welcome guests to its newest spot on August 10th on level one, inside Food Central."
Source: https://curiocity.com/chick-fil-a-missi ... ning-2023/
Not going to lie - I was a little disappointed. It was fresh and hot but I thought the flavor of the sandwich fell short even with "the sauce". Think I prefer Mary's or Popeye's ...
https://www.instagram.com/p/CsZP7wlMSMa/
Food was good, tastes exactly how I remember it did when in the US last. Having said that, I think I still prefer Popeye's if I'm going to eat this type of food.
https://www.narcity.com/calgary/chick-f ... at-we-know
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/chick-f ... -locations
Not sure what happened to the Burlington store that was rumored.
The hall of fame is a must see for any football fan Just outstanding films, trophies and skills challenge areas for kids (and adults).
But hey, its a Chick Fil A thread and you, there is a Chick Fil A eatery right on premises. So we went in for lunch.
What can I say? It is a chicken sandwich place. It also has nuggets. Oh and the waffle fries. Yup, just another chicken joint. I would not cross the street to go there. Absolutely nothing special about it at all. It will do good in the beginning because it is a novelty and new and then drift into neverland.
You're correct by 1 gram.
USA original chicken sandwich is 183g: https://www.chick-fil-a.com/nutrition-allergens
Canada original chicken sandwich is 182g: https://www.chick-fil-a.ca/nutrition-allergens
The new condos will most likely end up here: https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2022/08/fi ... -don-mills