Menu ebbs and flows are part of the restaurant business. Taco Bell, Wendy’s and KFC have all recently dropped and added menu items. For Chick-fil-A, however, the menu hasn’t experienced many changes until fairly recently.
Chick-fil-A’s Atlanta headquarters includes a “menu over time" wall showcasing menu additions throughout the company’s 77-year history. In the early days of the company, the menu cadence was simple as the concept was just finding its footing. In its first decade, the 1940s, the roots of the company were planted with Founder Truett Cathy's Dwarf Grill, serving Icedream (soft serve ice cream) and iced tea. The signature chicken sandwich came along in 1964, three years before the first branded Chick-fil-A opened in a mall food court and marking the only introduction that decade. Its lemonade was introduced in 1977.
The innovation wheel started to pick up a little in the 1980s. To learn more about the company’s history let’s turn to Alicia Kelso.
