After nine months of renovations, The Dwarf House in Hapeville, Ga., on Thursday reopened with a new modern exterior and drive-thru.
“This is a great reflection of my granddad’s entrepreneurial spirit and total commitment to excellent customer service,” said John White IV, president of S. Truett Cathy Brands, in a release. “Years before his passing in 2014, my granddad was thinking ahead by purchasing nearby property anticipating its inevitable expansion. Although my grandparents aren’t here to see this amazing restaurant, I’m confident they would be proud of the way we have brought to life his entrepreneurial journey through this design.”
Founded by S. Truett Cathy, who also founded Chick-fil-A, The Dwarf House first opened in 1946. It wasn’t just Cathy’s first restaurant and the birth of his entrepreneurial spirit – it was also the birthplace of Chick-fil-A’s famous chicken sandwich.
The newly designed space includes a full-service dining room, a dual-lane drive-thru with increased capacity and a mobile order pick-up area for convenient service.
The renovated restaurant also conserves 16 artifacts from the original building, including the iconic “Little Red Door,” stools from the front counter of the 1967 building, multicolored stained-glass windows and repurposed bricks.
The restaurant also includes new storytelling elements such as cobble pavers in the parking lot mimicking the sound of gravel from the original restaurant, which signaled to Truett when customers were arriving.
“The restaurant authentically tells the living legacy of S. Truett Cathy and Chick-fil-A,” said Jenn Allstun, who led the design of The Dwarf House, in a release. “For every single piece of the building we chose—down to the pavers in the parking lot or the designs in the floor—there had to be a story or intention behind it.”
The last time the restaurant was renovated was 1967.