Omicron leads Chick-fil-A to extend deadline for dining room openings

Most dining rooms are now open, but drive-thru remains popular
Chick-fil-A relied heavily on drive-thrus even before the pandemic, but they picked up much more of the load when dining rooms shuttered amid the rise of COVID-19. The Atlanta-based chain had been pushing for all of its franchisees' dining spaces to open this month. But that deadline has now been pushed back. (ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM)

Credit: Alyssa Pointer

Credit: Alyssa Pointer

Chick-fil-A relied heavily on drive-thrus even before the pandemic, but they picked up much more of the load when dining rooms shuttered amid the rise of COVID-19. The Atlanta-based chain had been pushing for all of its franchisees' dining spaces to open this month. But that deadline has now been pushed back. (ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM)

Chick-fil-A has pushed back the deadline for having all its dining rooms reopened. Blame the surging omicron variant for any impact on lunch plans.

The chicken chain’s new deadline is the middle of February. It had been Jan. 10. Even the new date isn’t a lock, though, according to the company.

A Chick-fil-A spokesperson said the company believes most of the restaurant dining rooms will be able to safely reopen with precautions in mid-February.

But she said the company will continue to evaluate impact of omicron and there is a chance the timetable could shift again.

During the pandemic, the Atlanta-based company excused its franchisees from requirements that they keep their restaurant dining rooms open. Varying COVID-19 case counts, differing local rules and other factors complicated setting a firm requirement.

The vast majority of Chick-fil-A’s sit-down dining remained off limits well into the spring of last year, even as the company saw sales and profits soar in 2020 thanks in part to booming drive-thru operations.

Now, the majority of the dining rooms in the chain’s more than 2,700 restaurants are open, according to the company.