Chick-fil-A Is Opening a Unique Restaurant In Hawaii

Chick-fil-A continues to experiment with new and improved restaurant design, as it's set to open a drive-thru-focused location in the Makiki area of Honolulu, Hawaii. The custom-designed location will open its doors later this week, according to the chain's press release.

The restaurant, which will not provide any dine-in services, was designed to serve drive-thru guests using a dual-lane structure. It will also feature three walk-up windows for customers on foot, as well as third-party delivery options in the near future.

Chick-fil-A Hawaii drive-thru restaurant — Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A is the latest in a parade of fast-food brands embracing restaurants sans dining rooms that emphasize delivery, drive-thru, and takeout orders. While this will be the first drive-thru-focused Chick-fil-A location on O'ahu, this isn't Chick-fil-A's first foray into such design. The chicken chain has opened over 30 drive-thru-only restaurants in recent years, as well as a delivery and catering-only location in the Nashville area. A drive-thru-only Chick-fil-A restaurant, for example, opened in Charlotte, N.C., in 2021 in hopes of easing the notorious traffic congestion caused by traditional dine-in units.

There may not be any diners, but that doesn't mean everything in the new location will be automated. The new Hawaii restaurant is set to employ 150 full- and part-time workers, some of whom will serve guests at the three aforementioned walk-up windows (no AI, yet!). Other employees will man the drive-thru windows and take orders using tablets. Everything will be optimized to prioritize speed; as one drive-thru employee walks the line and collects orders, another will come to each car for payments. This approach, according to Chick-fil-A, will facilitate a much faster ordering experience compared to a traditional speaker box drive-thru.

Hawaii, of course, can get pretty hot. Luckily, Chick-fil-A, Inc. partnered with clothing brands to create vests and moisture-wicking uniforms designed to keep employees cool. And in honor of its grand opening, the new location has pledged to donate $25,000 to the Hawai'i Foodbank, a certified member of Feeding America. Those funds will help local partners in the Makiki community in the fight against hunger.

Chick-fil-A Makiki is also providing 100 local healthcare heroes making an impact in Honolulu with free Chick-fil-A entrées for an entire year. "With family members in health care, I know how demanding the work can be to look after others, so I wanted to take a moment to recognize this hard-working community," says O'ahu-raised Zane Dydasco, the owner and operator of Chick-fil-A Makiki. "I am so grateful for the opportunity to now show care for our team members, guests, and a community that means so much to me, my wife Jenna, and our three daughters."

The new drive-thru-focused restaurant is located at 1056 S Beretania Street, and will open its doors on July 27, operating from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.