Chick-fil-A proprietor opens second Costa Mesa restaurant on Newport Boulevard

Cow lovers in Costa Mesa have a new reason to rejoice, as a Newport Boulevard property formerly occupied by Outback Steakhouse Thursday played host to the grand opening of a Chick-fil-A — the city’s second franchise, under the same ownership.

Justin Van Schoick, who’s owned Costa Mesa’s first Chick-fil-A on Harbor Boulevard since 2018, invited friends and family members to Thursday’s opening at 1670 Newport Blvd., where one of the restaurant’s bovine mascots made a special appearance.

Franchise owner Justin Van Shoick, hands out soda samplers to Newport Harbor High students during lunch on opening day of his second Chik-fil-A in Costa Mesa.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

The 44-year-old Laguna Hills resident said he’d been working in construction for two decades and was building stores for Vans’ corporate office in 2013, when a high school friend of his invited him to the grand opening of a Chick-fil-A he was starting in Seal Beach. It was a watershed moment.

“I just thought it was the neatest thing,” Van Schoick recalled Thursday. “After that, I had lunch over there about once a month for a good year and a half, and this is where I got sold. I’d never pictured myself running a restaurant but, man, I was impressed with what he was doing there.”

His friend was talking with guests, attending service projects and community events where Chick-fil-A was a philanthropic partner and building relationships with team members — it was an appealing picture to Van Schiock, then working long hours and traveling 50% of the time.

So, when an opportunity arrived for him to own his own franchise at 3181 Harbor Blvd., he submitted his name and, after a long courtship with the restaurant’s corporate decision makers, was selected. And when he heard Chick-fil-A was eyeing a second location in town, he bid again and won.

Franchisee Justin Van Shoick stands next a mural representing life on Newport Boulevard with a nod to his new Chick-fil-A location.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

In celebration of the grand opening, Chick-fil-A’s corporate office donated $25,000 to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. The new franchise is also part of the chain’s Shared Table program, which redirects surplus food to local soup kitchens, shelters, food banks and nonprofits in need.

Van Schiock has further been given the ability to grant weekly free Chick-fil-A entrées for a year to 100 local heroes making an impact in Costa Mesa. He’s dedicated half of those meals to volunteers at Let’s Be Kind, a local nonprofit started by former Costa Mesa High student Rebekah Robeck and her mom, Cristina.

“This is the local ownership model at its best,” he said.

While the Newport Boulevard store is his second, Van Schiock said its location and layout is ideal for the kind of community feel he wants to create.

“I really want to expand on the hospitality piece for this restaurant,” he said. “I want folks around here to know my dining room is your dining room — use it.”