Chick-fil-A Finally Lands a Real Cleveland Storefront, Opens in University Circle

Chick-fil-A is about to open its very first street-facing restaurant inside Cleveland city limits, filling a long-vacant storefront in University Circle just steps from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals. Chick-fil-A Uptown will open its doors at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 27, at 11435 Euclid Ave., a location the company says will create about 115 local jobs.

The opening marks a milestone for the Atlanta-based chain, which has operated suburban locations across Northeast Ohio for years — including Beachwood, Mentor, Lorain, Mayfield Heights and Westlake — but never a true storefront within Cleveland proper. As Cleveland.com reports, Chick-fil-A Uptown will offer dine-in, carry-out, curbside pickup and third-party delivery, with parking available behind the building. Before this, Chick-fil-A's only presence inside city limits came from non-storefront counters at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Cleveland State University, along with temporary downtown lunch kiosks, according to NEOtrans.

A Long-Vacant Storefront Gets New Life

The 2,000-square-foot space at 11435 Euclid Ave. had sat empty for about a year after CLE Clothing Co., which retained its flagship downtown Cleveland store, moved out following nearly a decade in the University Circle spot, per the same NEOtrans report. The property is owned by AJAPPJR Uptown LLC, an affiliate of Cleveland developer MRN Ltd., the firm that originally built the surrounding Uptown mixed-use development back in 2012, the outlet notes. University Circle itself is described as a cultural hub of Cleveland, making the corridor a natural draw for a restaurant chain looking to plant its first genuine urban flag in the city.

Steven Turner, the local owner-operator of the new restaurant, joined Chick-fil-A as a team member in 2020 and later participated in the company's leadership development program before traveling to support other restaurant openings and operations. “Opening the first locally owned and operated Chick-fil-A restaurant within Cleveland city limits is an incredible honor,” Turner said, per Cleveland.com's report. Chick-fil-A Uptown will be open Monday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Moove-In Party and a Food Bank Gift

To celebrate the debut, Chick-fil-A Uptown is hosting its signature “Moove-In Party,” a promotion requiring no purchase that rewards the first 100 customers who show up in cow attire with one free entrée or kid's meal, while supplies last, limited to one per costumed customer. Breakfast options for the giveaway include the Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit, the Egg White Grill and four-count Chick-n-Minis, while lunch and dinner choices include the Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich, the Spicy Chicken Sandwich, the five-count Nugget Kid's Meal, and eight-count nuggets or grilled nuggets. Chick-fil-A also announced a $25,000 donation to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank tied to the opening, and the new location will participate in the company's Shared Table program, which redirects surplus food to local nonprofits.

The setup echoes the grand-opening playbook Chick-fil-A used in Broadview Heights’ new Chick-fil-A, where a similar $25,000 Food Bank gift and moove-in party accompanied the March opening at 9050 Treeworth Blvd. Ahead of the Cleveland debut, the company launched a local hiring push in July seeking 85 to 110 full- and part-time team members, according to WKYC.

Part of a Bigger Ohio Expansion Push

The University Circle opening fits into a much larger corporate strategy. Chick-fil-A announced in August 2025 plans to open 25 to 30 new restaurants across Ohio by the end of 2027, an expansion the company says could create up to 3,000 jobs statewide, with more than 80 locations already operating in Ohio before that announcement, WKYC reported. Nine of those new Northeast Ohio locations are slated for downtown Cleveland, Broadview Heights, Aurora, Akron, Stow, Streetsboro and New Philadelphia through 2027.

Ohio has a long history with the chicken chain — Chick-fil-A opened its very first Buckeye State restaurant in Cleveland back in 1979, according to a company press release cited by WKYC, making the University Circle storefront a kind of homecoming 47 years later. Suburban momentum has continued elsewhere in the region too: in Parma, planning officials approved grants to clear an office building for a Chick-fil-A outparcel near The Shoppes at Parma.

Mixed Reactions From Nearby Campus

Not everyone on nearby campus is uniformly enthusiastic. Case Western Reserve University's student newspaper, The Observer, reported in February that students were anticipating the Euclid Avenue opening, though some expressed reservations tied to the company's history of social and political controversies. Given the restaurant's location steps from CWRU, Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals, the debut is likely to draw heavy foot traffic from students, staff and hospital workers alike once the doors open on Aug. 27.