New Chick-fil-A to Replace Red Lobster in Ulster County?

Is Chick-fil-A opening a new restaurant in Ulster County, NY?

Over the last year or so we've heard numerous rumors that the fast food giant Chick-fil-A was planning to expand in the Hudson Valley, NY, region. Poughkeepsie, Fishkill, Kingston, and Middletown, NY, were all rumored to be places that could see a restaurant open in the future.

Chick-fil-A Expands in the Hudson Valley, NY

The rumored Chick-fil-A locations in Fishkill, NY, at the former Boston Market site off Route 9, and in Poughkeepsie, NY, at the former IHOP, have not been fully approved yet. However, plans for new restaurants in the Town of Wallkill and now in Kingston have been approved.

In August we learned that the Town of Wallkill gave developers "complete town approval" to begin construction on the new Chick-fil-A restaurant at the site of the former Boston Market on Route 211. Last week officials in the Town of Ulster confirmed that they have also approved a new Chick-fil-A in the Kingston area.

Chick-fil-A to Replace Red Lobster in Kingston, NY?

Back in February, we told you that the Town of Ulster Planning Board was exploring plans to redevelop the former Red Lobster located off Route 9W at 1 Miron Lane in the Town of Ulster. The redevelopment plans, which were submitted at the beginning of 2025, included demolishing the old Red Lobster restaurant and replacing it with a new Chick-fil-A restaurant with a drive-thru.

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In August the Ulster Town Board announced that it had unanimously approved looking into the environmental impacts of the redevelopment, leading many to believe that the restaurant would get full approval in the future. Two months later, the town board has approved the site plan!

Chick-fil-A Approved in Kingston, NY

The Town Board has unanimously approved the site plan for the Chick-fil-A restaurant at its monthly meeting last week, according to the Daily Freeman. The new restaurant will be over 51-hundred square feet and feature two meal-ordering canopies and more than 100 parking spaces. It's unclear when work at the site will begin or when it'll open, but a representative for the project told the Freeman that they are expecting work to begin before Thanksgiving.

"There’s no set start date, yet. With the approvals, it will get into motion with Chick-fil-A to start setting those timelines," said Timothy Freitag "When they start construction, then they have an idea when they’ll open."

 

When an opening date is announced, we will update this article.