For years, Newark food fans have had to drive out of the city to get their hands on a Chick-fil-A sandwich. That's about to change.
Chick-fil-A is opening its first-ever Newark restaurant this fall at 2-28 Broadway, and the chain has officially kicked off hiring — looking to fill between 60 and 80 positions ahead of opening day. For a city this size, with this much momentum behind its food scene, this one has been a long time coming.
Where It's Landing
The location tells you everything about where Newark is headed. The brand-new restaurant sits on a long-vacant parcel that used to house a Burger King, right at the corner of Broadway and — here's the part that matters — two blocks from NJ Transit's Broad Street Station, and directly adjacent to the Vermella luxury apartment complex, Russo Development's 296-unit residential project.
That's not an accident. Chick-fil-A doesn't pick sites by throwing darts at a map. This is a transit-adjacent, high-foot-traffic corner in a neighborhood that's been filling up with new residents who have real spending power and, until now, no Chick-fil-A. The math works.
After securing planning board approval back in June 2024, the chain tore down the old structure and built a brand-new 2,936-square-foot restaurant from the ground up. And here's something interesting about the format: this location won't have indoor dining. Instead, it's built around two drive-thru lanes, a walk-up window, and outdoor seating. It's a lean, high-volume machine designed for how people actually eat in 2026 — on the move, ordering ahead, grabbing and going. For a corner two blocks from a major train station, that format makes complete sense. Commuters walking past at rush hour don't need a dining room. They need a fast lane.
Who's Running It
The restaurant will be run by owner-operator Brian Madalion, a longtime New Jersey resident who joined the company in 2023 as a restaurant director after working at a Chick-fil-A location in Atlanta. So this isn't some corporate handoff — it's a local guy, with New Jersey roots, who went through the company's operator pipeline and landed one of the most high-profile openings in the state.
Madalion didn't hold back on the ambition either. In a statement, he said giving back to the community is something he's always been passionate about, and that he's eager to watch the restaurant become a gathering place for the people of Newark — a cornerstone for the community where guests feel cared for and team members feel equipped to grow. Look, every operator says some version of this. But coming from a New Jersey guy running the chain's first restaurant in the state's largest city, it carries a little more weight. The bar is set high in Newark, and the community will hold him to it.
The Jobs Angle
Sixty to eighty hires is no small thing. According to the chain, the restaurant will offer competitive pay and benefits, flexible schedules, and — this is the part that actually matters to a lot of applicants — access to the Chick-fil-A Remarkable Futures Scholarships program and tuition discounts at more than 100 colleges and universities nationwide. For young workers in Newark looking for a first job or a way to fund school, that's a legitimate opportunity, not just a paycheck.
Why This One Matters
Let's talk about what this actually means, because a chain opening in Newark hits different than a chain opening in a suburb.
Newark is New Jersey's biggest city, and for decades it's watched major national brands skip right over it for locations in wealthier, whiter, lower-risk suburbs. That's been changing — slowly, then all at once. The development around Broad Street, the Vermella complex, the momentum downtown — Chick-fil-A planting a flag here is a signal. National brands are reading the same data everyone else is: Newark's population is growing, its downtown is filling in, and the demand for everyday food options is real and unmet.
Chick-fil-A was founded in 1946, it's still family-owned and based in Atlanta, and it's grown to more than 3,450 locations across North America — roughly 70 of them here in New Jersey. It's one of the most consistent performers in fast food, with lines that wrap around buildings at lunch. The fact that all 70 of those New Jersey locations managed to skip Newark until now tells you something about how the industry used to think about this city. And the fact that they're here now tells you something about how that's changing.
There's also the competitive angle. Fast food in downtown Newark has been, let's be honest, thin. Residents have options, but the national heavy-hitters have been sparse. A Chick-fil-A with two drive-thru lanes two blocks from Broad Street Station is going to do serious volume from day one — commuters, Vermella residents, students, downtown workers. The walk-up window is going to be a lifeline for the foot-traffic crowd.
What to Know Before You Go
Where: 2-28 Broadway, Newark — two blocks from NJ Transit's Broad Street Station, next to the Vermella apartment complex
When: Opening this fall; exact grand opening date hasn't been announced yet
Format: No indoor dining, two drive-thru lanes, walk-up window, and outdoor seating
Jobs: 60 to 80 positions being filled now, with scholarship and tuition benefits
An exact opening date hasn't been announced, so consider this your heads-up, not your invitation. But the hiring push is underway, the building is up, and fall is right around the corner. Newark's first Chick-fil-A is happening and something tells me that drive-thru line is going to be a scene from day one.