There’s another dining option arriving soon within easy driving distance of Galion.
For years, Chick-fil-A’s presence in the Mansfield-Ontario area came with wheels attached. The company began sending a food truck into the community in 2019, drawing customers while testing local demand for a permanent restaurant. Now, the experiment is giving way to bricks, pavement and drive-thru lanes as construction moves forward on an Ontario Chick-fil-A.
The restaurant is being built near the intersection of Lexington-Springmill Road and Village Mall Drive, near Pet Supplies Plus and near Aldi. It places the national chain in the center of Ontario’s busiest commercial district, surrounded by stores, restaurants and the evolving Ontario Center.
Built for a busy retail corridor
Preliminary plans call for a restaurant of approximately 4,375 square feet, with indoor and outdoor seating, 45 parking spaces and a two-lane drive-thru. The drive-thru configuration will be especially important along Lexington-Springmill Road, where steady traffic from local residents and regional shoppers can produce heavy activity during lunch and dinner hours.
Earlier projections placed the opening sometime between October and December. A more recent construction schedule pointed toward completion during the second or third week of November, although construction timetables can change as work progresses. Dalo Construction is serving as the project’s general contractor.
Years of interest lead to a permanent location
The Ontario restaurant follows a lengthy period of speculation and public interest. Chick-fil-A’s food truck began visiting the Mansfield area in 2019 as the company examined whether local demand could support a full restaurant. Ontario officials repeatedly heard from residents who wanted the chain to establish a permanent location. The eventual selection of the Village Mall Drive area reflects more than customer enthusiasm. The site provides visibility, access to an established shopping corridor and proximity to a concentration of businesses that already draw customers from across Richland County and neighboring communities.
Another piece of Ontario’s retail reinvestment
Chick-fil-A will arrive amid broader changes taking place around the former Richland Mall property and Lexington-Springmill Road. The corridor has recently welcomed Raising Cane’s, a favorite of many Galion area diners, while the Ontario Center is undergoing renewed investment and changes to its tenant mix. The former Macy’s building has also opened as Rural King, adding another destination to the district.
Against that backdrop, Chick-fil-A could become more than another place to eat. Its customer volume and national following could bring additional traffic into the surrounding retail area, supporting continued interest in nearby vacant buildings and development sites. Already, vacant spaces tend to fill quickly, the former Grocery Outlet location being an outlier in that equation.
Part of a statewide expansion
Ontario is one piece of Chick-fil-A’s much larger Ohio growth plan. The company announced that it intends to open between 25 and 30 locally operated restaurants across the state by the end of 2027. Chick-fil-A estimates that expansion could create as many as 3,000 full- and part-time jobs.
Hiring details for the Ontario restaurant have not yet been released, but the project will produce an economic impact through both its construction and eventual operation. New restaurant positions, supplier activity, customer spending and increased traffic to neighboring businesses will all contribute to that effect. For Ontario residents who have followed the food truck, rumors and planning process, however, the most visible sign of progress is already here. Chick-fil-A is no longer simply testing the market. It is becoming a permanent part of it.
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