Dade City's First Chick-fil-A Opens With $35,000 Gift to Fight Hunger

Dade City has its first Chick-fil-A. The restaurant opened Thursday, Sept. 3, at 12645 US Hwy 301, and along with it came a $35,000 donation split between two organizations working to feed hungry families across the Tampa Bay region: $25,000 to Feeding Tampa Bay and $10,000 to Meals on Wheels of Pasco.

The new location is run by Scott Amole, a local owner-operator who has been with Chick-fil-A since 2015. He already runs the Zephyrhills restaurant, and Dade City is now his second store in Pasco County.

The restaurant is expected to employ about 80 people. It's open Monday through Saturday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., with hours extending to 11 p.m. on Fridays. Customers can dine in, use the drive-thru, order delivery through a third party, or grab a mobile pickup order.

Where the donation is going

Meals on Wheels of Pasco executive director Beth Aker praised the new partnership, calling it a meaningful boost for the nonprofit's work delivering meals to homebound seniors and residents across the county. The $10,000 gift adds directly to that effort, while the larger $25,000 share goes to Feeding Tampa Bay, the regional food bank that supplies pantries and meal programs throughout the greater Tampa Bay area, including Pasco County.

The new store will also join Chick-fil-A's Shared Table program, which routes surplus food from restaurants to people who need it rather than letting it go to waste. Amole's Zephyrhills location has run the program since 2021 and has provided nearly 7,000 meals in that time, including more than 2,000 so far in 2026 alone.

The store offers the full range of ordering options, dine-in, drive-thru, carry-out, delivery and mobile pickup, meaning Dade City residents no longer have to drive to Zephyrhills or beyond for their usual order.

Amole's track record in Zephyrhills gives some indication of what to expect from the Shared Table program at the new location. If the Dade City restaurant follows a similar pace, the surplus food donations could add up quickly on top of Thursday's opening gift.

Want to talk about it? Head over to our Community Forum and join the conversation. For more local business news, visit the business section of Pasco County Community Website, and follow us on Facebook for updates on new openings and community news across Pasco County.