The Real Reason Why Chick-Fil-A Is Closed On Sundays

Nearly every restaurant and food retailer has their own manuals and best practices to coach team members about how to dress, the optimal way to prepare every menu item, what to say and not say, and sometimes, even secret lingo to optimize order speed.

Atlanta-based Chick-Fil-A has more customs than most. We’ve already covered why you’ll never hear staff say “you're welcome” at the fast-food chain and revealed the staff’s secrets to recreate their perfectly-crispy fried chicken recipe at home.

And now, we couldn’t resist getting to the bottom of a question that we tend to have once every seven days—especially when those icedream and waffle fry cravings strike: Why is Chick-Fil-A closed on Sundays?

 The Real Reason Why Chick-Fil-A Is Closed On Sundays

After being an employee at a 24/7 restaurant, Chick-fil-A’s founder, Truett Cathy, was all too familiar with working long and frequent hours. So when he debuted the first Chick-Fil-A location in Hapeville, Georgia in 1946, he made a mandate that his brand would be closed on Sundays to allow employees time to rest, recharge, and worship if they desire, according to the brand's website. 

Hours may vary a bit by location, but most Chick-fil-A locations are open for breakfast from 6 to 10:30 a.m. and lunch and dinner from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m Monday through Saturday. Sundays continue to be a day of rest at all of the chicken chain’s 3,000+ locations. Yes, even those that are inside rest stops, airports, malls, and sports stadiums (that often have an influx of visitors on football Sundays).

If the bottom line was priority number one, they definitely wouldn’t make the same decision. Chick-Fil-A surrenders an estimated $1.2 billion each year due to that one day per week of revenue lost, according to 24/7 Wall Street.

But it’s not about the money, Cathy explained in his 2002 book Eat Mor Chikin: Inspire More People: Doing Business the Chick-fil-A Way. "We were not so committed to financial success, however, that we were willing to abandon our principles and priorities. One of the most visible examples of this was our decision to close on Sundays. [My brother] Ben and I had attended Sunday school and church all our lives, and we were not about to stop just because we owned a restaurant."

Cathy went on to add that his three children have vowed to keep Chick-Fil-As closed on Sundays "long after I’m gone. I believe God honors our decision and sets before us unexpected opportunities to do greater work for Him because of our loyalty."

But it's not just about religion. A Chick-Fil-A video explained, "It’s not about being closed. It's about how we use that time. So while we’re off today, we hope you can be with your family and friends. That’s the thought behind each Sunday story—delivering recipes, activities and inspiration that might bring you a little closer together."

Senior Director of Talent Operations Jodee Morgan told Thrillist in 2017 that for the restaurant’s more than 80,000 team members, "This day off is for people to spend time with their friends, their families, to do what they want…It’s really about getting that work-life balance right."

All the more time to kick those feet up and take "my pleasure" literally.