A crispy fried chicken chain may have found a home in West San Jose.
Chick-fil-A filed plans with the San Jose planning department last month to build a new restaurant at 4400 Stevens Creek Blvd. where an empty Round Table Pizza and kidney dialysis center sit. The chicken-eatery giant wants to demolish the existing 10,400-square-foot commercial building and replace it with a roughly 5,245-square-foot restaurant with 70 seats. There are no plans to include a drive-thru.
The proposed location is next to the Stevens Creek Promenade project. The San Jose City Council approved the promenade’s plans in 2022, including 580 condominiums. Approximately 173 of those are slated to be affordable housing. Plans also include a 250-room hotel.
A Chick-fil-A representative said the chain keeps its eyes peeled for Bay Area locations.
“We are always evaluating potential new locations in the hopes of serving existing and new guests great food with remarkable service,” they told San José Spotlight. “While we would very much like to have more restaurants in the San Jose area, we have no details to share regarding (the project) at this time.”
The proposed plan comes after Chick-fil-A failed twice — in 2020 and 2024 — to open a new West Valley restaurant on South Bascom Avenue in Campbell. The Campbell City Council voted down the first proposal after facing considerable backlash from the Dry Creek neighborhood. Chick-fil-A pulled out of its second attempt last year after neighborhood residents fought back again.
The plan to open on Stevens Creek Boulevard has received limited pushback. The location near the proposed Promenade development is surrounded by car dealerships. It would sit on a major traffic artery in the West Valley that connects to Interstate 280 and multiple expressways.
Donaldo Rodriguez, manager of Legacy Window Tint and Audio on the street, said Chick-fil-A could help his business.
“It might help (us) a little bit more because more customers are gonna be able to see (us),” he told San José Spotlight. “The more traffic we get on this street, it’s better for us.”
Chick-fil-A has nine locations in Santa Clara County, with five in San Jose. Its newest San Jose location, on 3123 Silver Creek Road near Capitol Expressway, will bring that number to six. There is no set opening date for that location.
The Stevens Creek plans coincide with a multi-jurisdictional effort to build up the thoroughfare and make it more friendly for public transit, pedestrians and cyclists. A steering committee approved a draft improvement plan for the boulevard last month that’s set to go before officials in three cities the corridor runs through — Cupertino, San Jose and Santa Clara.
The plans for the chicken chain, along with the street improvements, are part of San Jose Councilmember Rosemary Kamei’s District 1. She said building up the corridor is essential for the thousands of people who travel it each day.
“I am very optimistic,” Kamei told San José Spotlight. “The council has done a really good job in trying to incentivize businesses to come in, to thrive, to also build more housing.”
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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