Probably the bigger question is why fried chicken (boneless or otherwise) is SO popular?
Yet despite that, we have entire chains dedicated to variations on the theme - to list the outlets within a couple miles of my home, we have: KFC, Church’s, Williams (local chain), Cane’s, Popeye’s, Zaxby’s, Chick-Fil-A, Chicken Express, Golden Chick, Louisiana Fried Chicken, and a gaggle of local places by the low-income apartments that advertise fried chicken with fish and/or waffles. And on top of that, EVERY burger joint has chicken nuggets of some kind on the menu.
I don’t get it- I mean, I don’t dislike it or anything, but nor is it something I often crave or even think sounds particularly appetizing. Yet we have an absurd surfeit of fried chicken fast food, and with the exception of the local fish & chicken/chicken & waffles joints, NONE seem to go out of business.
I think Chick-fil-A just does that better than some of the others, that’s all.
I don’t know about comparison of usual wait times between fast food places. I do know that in the time it takes McDonalds or Wendy’s to handle one transaction, Chik-Fil-A can do 3 to 5.
Admittedly, Chick-Fil-A basically throws warm bodies at the problem. Wendy’s is content to have one order taker/drink-maker, one butt-busting worker doing all the food, and three or four other employees screwing around. Our Chik-Fil-A will have one or two order takers OUTSIDE walking up to cars taking orders, a person to conduct the financial transaction at the window, one or two expediters to assemble/bag the prepared food & drinks, separate employees monitoring several various food prep stations in back, two management staffers, and so on.
People are overthinking this. Why is anything popular? Not every popular thing is self-evident to all people – there will always be segments that don’t like sushi, Indian cuisine, pizza (yes, it’s true), etc.
Totally a thing. I think it was at the beginning of “Super Size Me” where they were interviewing teens on the street and they were displaying strong brand loyalty. Here in Canada, Tim Horton’s has a stranglehold on the drive-thru coffee/bagel/doughnut/breakfast sandwich market for no damn reason I can see other than brand loyalty they’ve acquired. Well, they are everywhere too.
I’ve only eaten at one twice, but I very much liken Chik-Fil-A to the West Coast burger chain In-N-Out. Both have a better than average fast food product and both have fast, efficient, friendly customer service. In In-N-Out’s case they actually pay better than other fast food chains so they can skim the cream of the crop of young service workers. Have no idea if Chik-Fil-A does the same( they might just hire very carefully ). But I can say I find them definitely a cut above average. I have a good friend who worked in one as a teen and still pines for their chicken sandwich, which she can’t bring herself to eat anymore for the standard reason.
So the success is no mystery. I don’t patronize the place( honestly, politics aside there are none near me )and have better non-fast food options locally for better fried chicken sandwiches. But I get it, because In-N-Out definitely works for me.
The backlash against Chik-fil-A’s pro-traditional-marriage stance was also a mistake; it really got conservatives/evangelicals to circle the wagons and support the restaurant chain even more. I haven’t seen the numbers but I wouldn’t be surprised if the store reported significantly stronger sales ever since its opposition to gay marriage became a big public thing.
This seems to be sugarcoating things just a bit. They are pro-traditional marriage in the sense of what? They don’t oppose it? Who does?
I’ve never eaten there, and I won’t start now.
Difficult to say. A local decision supported by corporate seems like the best answer. These two article are the only ones I could find that touch on the issue.
Well yeah, but I guess where I’m a bit confused is why it’s SO popular? I mean, if I’m going to lunch, and I see both drive through lines backed up past the microphone at Chick-Fil-A, I’m going somewhere else. No fast food is worth that level of dedication. But people will drive up and sit in a line 15 cars deep for Chick-Fil-A, which I don’t get.
I hate standing/sitting in queues, but I have gotten into 15 car lines for In-N-Out. Why? A.) I’m looking to satisfy a particular craving, but equally B.) those lines usually move very fast. They’ve quite the little efficient assembly line chugging away and you usually don’t end waiting very long for your( freshly cooked )food.
I certainly can’t tell you what to think, but perhaps there is a combination of confirmation bias as well as the fact many/most Chick-fil-A locations are built in the suburbs where the white people are in more abundance?
From your observation, what exactly does a Christian look like? Obviously there is enough distinction that you can pick them our of a drive through line. Just wondering…
Is, “Have a blessed day”, still the thing they say when they hand you your meal? Because that made me throw up in my mouth a little bit before I actually had my first and only meal there. Which was otherwise nothing worth noting.
Excellent customer service and very friendly employees–at McDonalds or Burger King you get the impression that it pisses them off just for you being there
Clean restaurants
but nobody has said:
fresh made lemonade.
And yes, their stand for traditional marriage has put them in a good place with a lot of people as well as their Sunday closings. Tell them to fuck off for that if you want, but most people haven’t.