Chick-fil-A drops plans for new restaurant in West Babylon

A Chick-fil-A that's been in the works for more than three years will not be coming to West Babylon after all, the national fast-food chain confirmed.

The proposed Chick-fil-A was first approved by the Babylon Town Planning Board in April 2022 and was to be built on the site of a former Payless shoe store at the Great South Bay Shopping Center in West Babylon. The project's timeline had been extended several times over the years and, most recently, an expanded plan was approved by the town in September 2025.

The chain is now no longer pursuing a restaurant there.

"We would very much like to have more restaurants in West Babylon, but we have no new locations to confirm at this time," Chick-fil-A Inc. spokesperson Kali Caldwell said in a statement emailed to Newsday.

"We are always evaluating potential new locations in the hopes of serving existing and new customers great food with remarkable service," Caldwell said.

Officials with Chick-fil-A did not address additional questions about why the company ended its plans for the new location, and the company's real estate attorney, Greg Alvarez, of the Amato Group in Garden City, did not respond to requests for comment.

Babylon Town officials also did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

According to the site plan approved  last year, the restaurant's size would have been increased to 5,214 square feet, included a child's play area and the drive-thru line would have been able to accommodate up to 52 vehicles.

The restaurant's initial plan was approved in 2022 and was originally pitched as a 4,947-square-foot eatery with 114 seats and drive-thru capacity for 38 vehicles.

Over the course of the project's life, Chick-fil-A's attorney Alvarez requested six time extensions from the town planning board, records show.