Chick-fil-A submits plan for third location in Thurston County, city announces

Posted

The fast-food chicken sandwich business Chick-fil-A has submitted plans for a third location in the Olympia area, the city of Olympia announced on Monday.

The chain already has a location in Lacey on Marvin Road, and the business is building a second site in west Olympia at Cooper Point Road and Capital Mall Drive.

The third site, which is proposed to have dual drive-throughs, would be at 4505 Martin Way E., the site of a “previous Red Lobster,” the city information reads. However, Red Lobster is still open at the site.

Still, the plan is to ultimately demolish the Red Lobster building and build a new Chick-fil-A on the site, lead planner Casey Mauck said Monday. A timeline for when that would happen isn’t known, she said.

The Olympian has reached out to Red Lobster for more information.

Chick-fil-A is a popular restaurant, but also a business that has generated some controversy here. Nationwide controversy surrounding the chain revolves around its past charitable donations to organizations perceived as anti-LGBTQ+, coupled with statements made by a former CEO opposing same-sex marriage.



Residents were unhappy when the business sponsored a Children’s Day event in Lacey, and the west Olympia site displaced a restaurant called Fujiyama Japanese Steakhouse that later moved to another site on Cooper Point Road.

A city-hosted neighborhood meeting about the second proposed site also attracted some angry comments.

There is a comment period for Chick-fil-A’s newest proposal. Send comments by 5 p.m. July 14 to lead planner Casey Mauck at cmauck@ci.olympia.wa.us.

The business is also planning to open a new location at Centralia Station, its first in Lewis County. 

© 2025 The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.). Visit www.theolympian.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.