For a while now, some of the local Chick-Fil-A establishments have been having employees make rounds through the dining area, asking patrons if the meal is to their satisfaction, if they need refills, sauces, etc. This is all well and good.
Lately, however, an employee of a particular Chick-Fil-A has been carrying around a very large, wooden peppermill, and asking patrons if they would like fresh ground pepper with their meal. As only a few items on the Chick-Fil-A menu seem like they would be greatly enhanced by fresh pepper (salads, soups, etc.), and that none of these items are by any means “signature” dishes of theirs, this seems perplexing to me. It’s as though they’re trying to create a “fancy” restaurant feel with a place that serves fast food (perfectly serviceable as that fast food may be).
As I haven’t been to any other Chick-Fil-A locations since I noticed the peppermill, I can’t judge whether or not this is a common thread, or just one location’s innovation. Has anyone else observed the peppermill phenomenon at their local Chick-Fil-A?
That is just weird! I do not like Chik-Fil-A’s signature sandwich. It’s just nasty. However, I love the chicken nuggets. I don’t see how fresh ground pepper would enhance the flavor. Then again it couldn’t make the sandwich any worse, I guess.
Well, I hope this will be done everywhere. In my mind everything benefits from some fresh ground peppercorns. I’d just tell them to hit everything on the table with some.
Glad I got that in before all of the Corny Puns take over.
This is not about pepper but it is about Chic-Fil-A. According to an article on CNN.com a few months ago, they use some of their profits to promote anti-gay legislation. I sure don’t want to support that.
Yeah, last time I was there, my friend and I asked for pepper on everything. The guy seemed a bit surprised, but happily obliged. It did improve the nuggets a bit.
This just happened to me today. I went to a Chick-Fil-A for the first time in about a year and a half at a local dying mall, and an employee with a big pepper mill came by and offered to put some fresh ground pepper on our french fries. It was pretty tasty. I didn’t realize this had become a new thing; I just figured this particular branch was doing everything they could to keep the mall alive.
The Chick-Fil-A I was at is also in a dying mall. We joke that the mall is a chicken-based economy. It wouldn’t happen to be Landmark Mall in Alexandria, VA, would it?
Judging from my years in fast food, this sounds like one of the fad ideas that companies roll out every few years in order to try to “improve customer satisfaction”, only for it to go over like a dead fish and gradually get phased out when it turns out that most patrons don’t care if there’s a TV in the corner with weather and traffic updates, or if the clerk asks you “How was the quality of your service today?” in those exact words, or if someone stands in the parking lot and hands you a paper menu when you park, or if the milkshakes now come with a paper umbrella sticking out the top.
I can also add that the Chick-Fil-A in dying mall thing is happening where I live as well. As for the pepper, I haven’t sat in at Chick-Fil-A in a while so I wouldn’t know if it’s happening here. Maybe sometime this week I’ll get a chicken craving.
Why’s it gotta be BLACK pepper?
This doesn’t sound all THAT strange to me, actually. I don’t see it as much different than Fazoli’s practice of sending someone around the dining room with a basket of breadsticks.
I like CFA. They’re a little pricey so I don’t go very often, but their chicken kicks ass and they appear to treat their employees well. Business wise they do in 6 days what it takes everyone else 7 days to do. I respect that they refuse to open on Sundays although there are days it’d be nice to hit their drive-thru after church
So let me get this straight. Cick-fil-a can’t be bothered to put mayo or mustard or any kind of sauce on your sandwich for you. But they are more than happy to send one of there pawns running around asking if you would like FGP?
Oddly enough the only Chick-fil-A i’ve ever been to in a mall was in a dying mall. Or just very early in the morning where it was the only place open. I was too tired to remember
I don’t have to be bothered to ask them to not put any sauce on my sandwich, so it’s a win for me. Now if they could do something about the prices and the Sunday thing they’d be golden.
