At least three new Chick-fil-A drive-thru restaurants are in the planning stages in Collier County.

After the Naples Design Review Board sent the architect back to the drawing board this spring, representatives for the Atlanta-based fast-casual chain were back in town Aug. 28 to give the city a second look at its plans for a drive-thru restaurant at the site of the former Red Lobster restaurant at 2355 Ninth St. N. Despite its harsh early criticism for Chick-fil-A’s mundane building design and its perpendicular orientation on the nearly 1.5acre property, the DRB had nicer things to say at Chick fil-A’s do-over preliminary design four months later.

Former Red Lobster, Naples

“First of all, this is a vast improvement of what you brought us in April. You responded architecturally,” DRB chair Stephen Hruby said.

“I think this is an improvement over what you had before, and I think the main concern is what you’re going to go through for your drive-thru and whether a drive-thru in this location is an appropriate solution. That is going to take a little more staff and PAB [Planning Advisory Board] analysis to be sure that it’s not going to create us a problem within the city.”

Chick-fil-A Naples, August rendering

After a lengthy discussion about numerous conditions and staff suggestions, the DRB unanimously approved Chick-fil-A’s preliminary design plans for the city of Naples location—which presumably will replace the longtime popular location nearby at Coastland Center mall’s food court when it opens— but the project is far from being a slam dunk. Many conditions still must be met before the project is submitted to the DRB for final design review. Required steps in the process include obtaining full site plan approval, getting conditional use approval for drive-thru lanes and receiving a permit for outdoor dining.

Another Chick-fil-A is being proposed for the City Gate commerce park east of Collier Boulevard and north of the Interstate 75 interchange. This summer, Chick-fil-A submitted a site development plan to Collier County for the proposed freestanding development of a 5,663-square-foot quick-service restaurant with two drive-thru lanes on 2.3 acres at 3819 White Lake Blvd. Architectural plans show 100 seats inside and 32 on a patio directly outside the restaurant.

Chick-fil-A City Gate rendering

The vegetation-covered site is bordered by Collier Boulevard to the west, City Gate Drive to the north, White Lake Boulevard to the east and a future retail strip to its south. The popular chicken chain is undoubtedly positioning itself to take advantage of the interstate traffic and throngs of people destined for City Gate to play at the Paradise Coast Sports Complex, work at the massive Uline distribution center or visit the Great Wolf Lodge, set to open Sept. 25.

Chick-fil-A won’t be the only eatery capitalizing on the heavily traveled route. The one-story City Gate Retail Center, which will be developed by Fort Myers-based Seagate Development Group along Collier Boulevard at City Gate Drive, will include inline retail spaces with a drive-thru restaurant and a full-service, 6,000-square-foot restaurant with an outdoor dining area. MK Architecture recently was awarded the contract for the architectural and engineering services for the planned 22,000-square-foot building.

Wawa and Chick-fil-A plans

A third new Chick-fil-A is part of a commercial development recently proposed on the northeast corner of Pine Ridge Road and Logan Boulevard. Its 5,335-square-foot drive-thru would share that vacant corner with a 5,915-square-foot Wawa convenience store with fuel pumps, conceptual plans show. Additional details are not available yet.

Although Chick-fil-A had a pre-application last August with Collier County regarding a former Red Robin and Applebee’s restaurant outparcel in North Naples, the proposal has not progressed further in the permitting portal. The chain is no longer on the site plan for Granada Shoppes on the southeast corner of U.S. 41 and Immokalee Road.

In addition to the Coastland Center counter in Naples, Chickfil-A operates two restaurants in North Naples. The location at 5825 Airport-Pulling Road launched in August 2006, joined by another location at 8610 Addison Place Drive that opened in February 2022. The privately held chain has more than 3,000 restaurants nationwide.

Far East Naples?

Q: Any Chick-fil-A or First Watch coming to far east Naples around Collier Boulevard and U.S. 41? — Jack Wagoner, Naples

A: While we should never say never, plans do not exist yet for either Chick-fil-A or First Watch to land that far south. The area rooftops and demand definitely support the idea, though.

First Watch previously had tentative plans in that vicinity at both Triangle Plaza and Restaurant Row, but it homed in instead on a new location coming soon about four miles north at the Hammock Park commerce center near the northeast corner of Collier Boulevard and Rattlesnake Hammock Road.

As mentioned above, Chick-fil-A also plans a location off Collier Boulevard, but it will be in the City Gate commerce park just north of Alligator Alley. That’s more than seven miles from Restaurant Row.

Don’t be surprised if one of these restaurant chains ends up eventually coming to that busy 41 and 951 area, but nothing is on the books for that to happen yet.

The “Tim Aten Knows” weekly column answers local questions from readers. Email Tim at tim.aten@naplespress.com.