# Chick-fil-A rated as politest chain
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 8, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951 "2016-10-08T16:19:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/1 "2016-10-08T16:19:48Z")
A survey that just came out rates Chick-fil-A as the politest restaurant chain in the nation.
> [@](#):
>
> Chick-fil-A, recently ranked as America’s best fast food restaurant based on customer satisfaction, is also the most polite restaurant in the country, according to QSR Magazine’s annual drive-thru report.
>
> “It’s all about speed and accuracy, but we know our customers appreciate that we can be nice while being fast and accurate,” said Mark Moraitakis, Chick-fil-A’s senior director of hospitality and service design. “Eye contact and smiling go a long way in the drive-thru experience.”
[http://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/restaurantsandnews/chick-fil-a-is-americas-most-polite-restaurant-chain/ar-BBx8R2w](http://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/restaurantsandnews/chick-fil-a-is-americas-most-polite-restaurant-chain/ar-BBx8R2w)
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/2 "2016-10-08T16:42:08Z")
I’m not crazy about some of their policies, but I have to agree: for a fast food chain, they’re very polite (friendly, even). They will fill your drink while you’re at your table, they bring the food to you when they’re busy so there’s no huge back-up at the counter. And their chocolate chunk cookies (oatmeal inside) are magnificent. The peach shakes, too, when in season.
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### Author:  [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/3 "2016-10-08T17:46:17Z")
Peach shakes! I’ve never patronized the place, but that sounds good!
Only downside is the “in season” and I’ll bet we’re past it.
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/4 "2016-10-08T17:49:12Z")
And, of course, they were the ones who took food service to the site of the Orlando shooting, and AFAIK still have not officially acknowledged that they did so.
Their homophobia at some levels is repulsive… but maybe it’s all a good example that everyone and everything has multiple facets.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/5 "2016-10-08T17:51:33Z")
> [@Baker](#):
>
> Peach shakes! I’ve never patronized the place, but that sounds good!
>
> Only downside is the “in season” and I’ll bet we’re past it.
Yes, sadly, by about a month. They _are_ good. There are chunks of peaches in the shake, as well, but they need bigger diameter straws for easier sucking. 😉
They are closed on Sundays, though.
ETA: I did not know about the Orlando food delivery.
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### Author:  [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/6 "2016-10-08T20:36:04Z")
They’re even polite to the smug douchebags who film themselves at the drive-thru windows harassing the cashiers about the management’s anti-gay policies, and then uploading their bravery onto YouTube.
As if the cashiers had anything to do with what management does.
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### Author:  [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/7 "2016-10-09T01:53:27Z")
I have only ever gone through the drive-through, never inside, but every time, at every store I have visited, they say “it’s my pleasure” when they take your order. They repeat it when they hand you your food. I’m sure they are nice kids but when everyone uses the same polite line, is it politeness or policy?
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/8 "2016-10-09T02:46:23Z")
> [@tenacious\_j](#):
>
> I have only ever gone through the drive-through, never inside, but every time, at every store I have visited, they say “it’s my pleasure” when they take your order. They repeat it when they hand you your food. I’m sure they are nice kids but when everyone uses the same polite line, is it politeness or policy?
Aren’t they basically the same thing? Are your kids polite on their own or because, way back when, you set policy? Besides, when you deviate from the script, who knows what may happen?
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### Author:  [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/9 "2016-10-09T02:49:15Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> Aren’t they basically the same thing? Are your kids polite on their own or because, way back when, you set policy? Besides, when you deviate from the script, who knows what may happen?
If your crew can deviate from the script and still be called polite then you know you’re successful. If they can sound polite while on script, then maybe.
Damn, I’m going to want Chick Fil A lemonade tomorrow and they will be closed.☹
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2016, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/10 "2016-10-09T02:58:29Z")
> [@tenacious\_j](#):
>
> If your crew can deviate from the script and still be called polite then you know you’re successful. If they can sound polite while on script, then maybe.
> Damn, I’m going to want Chick Fil A lemonade tomorrow and they will be closed.☹
When you eventually get one of them peach shakes, you’ll forget all about the lemonade. Closed on Sundays does kinda suck, though.
I’m just pleased they make the effort; Mickey D’s has been a bit hostile the last couple of visits.
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### Author:  [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/11 "2016-10-09T03:22:46Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> I’m just pleased they make the effort; Mickey D’s has been a bit hostile the last couple of visits.
I went to a Popeye’s recently with my mother. The sass they gave her!
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2016, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/12 "2016-10-09T03:26:25Z")
I was never really hardcore against Chic-Fil-A. The owner supported a campaign to deny gays the right to marry, which I disagreed with, but there’s no evidence (that I know of) that he’s a horrible human being and the company itself seems pretty reasonable, and their food good.
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### Author:  [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2016, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/13 "2016-10-09T03:46:46Z")
One thing I can add to the comments here: as a teacher at the local high school, I have a fairly good idea of which students we have are naturally polite and friendly. Of the local fast food joints (we have Wendy’s, Zaxby’s, Hwy 55 Burgers, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A and Mc Donald’s here in “town”), the one that consistently hires those students who are naturally polite and friendly is Chick-fil-A. So, while they are definitely saying certain phrases “on script,” they are also quite polite and friendly when not following that script. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/14 "2016-10-09T13:21:23Z")
> [@Trancephalic](#):
>
> I went to a Popeye’s recently with my mother. The sass they gave her!
Yeah, I _love_ Popeye’s chicken, but their hiring practices…
I’m all in favor of what used to be called “Hire the handicapped” programs, but you don’t staff the front of a fast food joint with people without social skills or the back of one with people who can’t count. (The last three times I went into a Popeyes, I was told they “were out of chicken”. All chicken. But they’d have more in 30 minutes if I wanted to wait. How can you consistently run out of chicken at a chicken joint just at the start of the dinner service?)
And most of the time when I’d gotten it home, the order was wrong, or it was all wings and backs or they wouldn’t have fastened the gravy carton correctly, etc.
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/15 "2016-10-09T18:59:33Z")
> [@Trancephalic](#):
>
> I went to a Popeye’s recently with my mother. The sass they gave her!
Ha! My mother, the model of civic politeness, went into a Popeye’s probably 30 years ago now, and was so rudely treated that she went out to her car, fumed a few minutes, then threw all the chicken and gravy at the front window, and drove off.
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### Author:  [@RenaissanceMan203](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RenaissanceMan203)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2016, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/16 "2016-10-10T07:33:08Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#):
>
> Their homophobia at some levels is repulsive… but maybe it’s all a good example that everyone and everything has multiple facets.
I fail to see how a hit piece on the ownership of the business about his personal opinion constitutes fear.
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### Author:  [@HowSoonIsThen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HowSoonIsThen)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2016, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/17 "2016-10-10T08:42:14Z")
> [@RenaissanceMan203](#):
>
> I fail to see how a hit piece on the ownership of the business about his personal opinion constitutes fear.
I thought “I’m not homophobic, I don’t fear gay people” had died long ago…
It’s well established that homophobic means prejudiced against gays, not fearful of gays.
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### Author:  [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2016, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/18 "2016-10-10T08:56:17Z")
> [@asahi](#):
>
> I was never really hardcore against Chic-Fil-A. The owner supported a campaign to deny gays the right to marry, which I disagreed with, but there’s no evidence (that I know of) that he’s a horrible human being and the company itself seems pretty reasonable, and their food good.
It’s actually not unusual for great companies that are otherwise well thought of to get into conflict with progressives. Two others are Hobby Lobby for the birth control mandate, and Whole Foods for the CEO’s staunch libertarianism.
What some people don’t get is that it’s their sincere beliefs that make them great businessmen who care about customers and employees, rather than cold businessmen(like Donald Trump) who are just looking for the most efficient way to make a buck.
We want people with principles to own businesses, and we want them to run their businesses in accordance with their principles.
I’d also note that I spent a day working a temp job at Georgia Pacific, the largest holding of the Kochs. The relentless positivity of the employees was striking. I also did a job at Mayo clinic, and they were almost all bitter assholes.
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### Author:  [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2016, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/19 "2016-10-10T13:28:01Z")
It did. But some people are so fond of their knee-jerk rhetoric that they just can’t let it go, like survivors of the Titanic clinging to it on the way under.
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2016, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-fil-a-rated-as-politest-chain/767951/20 "2016-10-10T14:14:34Z")
> [@RenaissanceMan203](#):
>
> I fail to see how a hit piece on the ownership of the business about his personal opinion constitutes fear.
Have you not read any news for the last couple of years? “Homophobia” == “dislike/hatred of gays” is pretty much the universal usage and has been for a while.
Phobias can be intense dislike of something as well as outright “fear.”
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