The hopes, dreams, and wishes of Binghamton area Chick-fil-A fans over a restaurant being built in the Southern Tier may finally be coming true.

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Rumblings of a Chick-fil-A restaurant opening somewhere in Broome County have been roaring the for the last year or so. It all started when someone noticed that there were job openings posted in job search websites looking for people interested in working in various capacities at a soon to open Chick fil A restaurant in Binghamton.

When we heard about the job postings, we visited the online sites and confirmed there were jobs posted. In February of 2022, we reached out to Chick-fil-A to inquire whether or not the job postings were legitimate. An automated response from Chick-fil-A would not confirm but did tell us that we could call and leave a message letting the company know where we thought a Chick-fil-A restaurant should be built.

Traci Taylor
Traci Taylor
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Interestingly, not long after we reached out to the Chick-fil-A corporate office, the jobs posted on the online sites were removed and things got very quiet.

In the summer of 2022, we heard rumblings again that a restaurant had been planned to be built in Vestal but was met with red tape and squashed. Then, in the fall of 2022, speculation began to pour in that a Chick-fil-A was in fact coming and that it would be built at Oakdale Commons but just as quickly as speculation built up, things suddenly got quiet.

Today, we can tell you that Chick-fil-A is likely coming into Broome County at some point. What’s not yet clear is exactly where the restaurant will be built or if there will be multiple restaurants in Vestal, Johnson City, and Binghamton as representatives from Chick-fil-A have yet to return our calls.

However, according to multiple news sources, Vestal Town Supervisor John Schaffer has confirmed that Chick-fil-A has assured him that they have plans to come to Broome County. Schaffer also noted that there is a chance that the restaurant chain may open not one, but three locations in Broome County.

Schaffer told Binghamton Homepage that the corporate office for Chick-fil-A has informed him that they plan to build a restaurant in Vestal as well as in Johnson City “in that plaza,” and one in Binghamton on Upper Front Street.

Building the restaurants is the easy part. Finding a franchisee is the hard part. Those wanting to be a franchise owner of a Chick-fil-A must meet strict requirements. Anyone interested in being a franchise owner should read this FAQ from Small Business Trends before submitting an application.

A list of future restaurant openings on the Chick-fil-A website does not list any planned openings in Broome County however, the page has not been updated since 2019.

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