When they opened stores in NYC I tried them a couple times to see what the fuss was about. They were OK, but there was an aftertaste that was unappealing.
The fried chicken sandwich from Shake Shack is way better.
The best fried bone in chicken pieces in my neck of the woods comes from the deli at the supermarket. I think they use genetically altered mutant chickens, because the breasts are huge and meaty.
You are describing what a particular franchise did, and not the company as a whole.
And said action does not actually indicate they actually support gay marriage. Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors. It’s a good, charitable thing to do, but it doesn’t indicate support for gay marriage, or even gay people in general.
Making pro-LGBT advertisements, on the other hand, would in fact be a way to use their freedom of speech to show their support. So if that would be “virtue signaling,” then you must agree with me that all it means is communicating one’s own moral values.
And that isn’t a bad thing. Without such, there is nothing inconsistent with thinking Chick-Fil-A is still anti-gay marriage. You have to actually signal your beliefs through words and actions for people to know about them.
I really think that people who are attributing their success to their politics are projecting. As noted, they were quite popular before that became known. I abhor the politics and the creepy christian overtones, but the food is: damn tasty, always consistent, served fucking fast. The fact the staff is nice to pretty much everyone is a bonus.
And yeah, they throw a lot of warm bodies at the problem. At the location nearest my work, during the lunch rush there are four people walking the two lines of cars taking orders and handling credit card transactions themselves. When you get to the window, there’s a guy standing outside marshaling the three folks inside to complete bagging the order and completing any cash transactions. It’s never more than 10 minutes, even when the line is going out the parking lot and down the street.
I invariably want one on Sunday, and Truett Cathy is a jackass for closing on that day. Hire some fucking atheists and make some fucking sandwiches on Sunday. Hell, make the on Saturday and put them in a vending machine. If you hear about someone getting arrested for breaking into one and making a sammich while completely loaded on a Sunday, it’s probably me. No, no one else’s chicken sammich tastes the same.
At least they don’t have that stupid “IN GAWD WE TRUST” bullshit plastered all over the windows like Whataburger does. You want a drive through line that takes some sort of religious dedication to get through? Go to Whataburger. I love them, but they are fucking slow. My sister used to roll two huge joints before she had me drive her there. Any time of the day or night, we’d have time to finish both of them between ordering our food and reaching the window to pay.
Why go to Whataburger? It’s tasty as hell (and yeah, it IS better than almost every other fast food burger), they’re fucking everywhere in this state, and they’re open 24 hours. Their drive through line is the fast food consumer’s equivalent of the gulag, though.
Note that my previous post is not about gay marriage per se, and would be equally true about any other belief. One does not need to support the beliefs/lifestyle/sexuality/etc of victims to reach out and help them during a tragedy.
I wouldn’t assume that someone who helped out people after a shooting at a Trump rally actually supported Trump, either.
Chick-fil-A is run very efficiently. I’m always impressed with the way they handle long lines of car.
Service is excellent. Staff is friendly. The food is always fresh and hot. I eat there at least three times a month.
I really appreciate the fresh squeezed lemonade they make at the restaurant.
Pollo a la brasa for the win!!
Around here I think service is the #1 reason CFA is so popular. Another good-service-focused restaurant opened here recently, Culver’s, and I think the food is so-so and the pricing is high like CFA but people are raving about it just like they have always raved about CFA.
Both restaurants seem to be very community focused too. CFA donates sandwiches to every cause in town. While Culver’s hasn’t been here long the franchisees did take like 6 months of hyping themselves up on local social media before they opened (which IMHO is fine).
I think the emphasis on service goes a LONG way towards endearing a place to middle-class do-dahs (like myself) who don’t always experience it and upper-class people who expect it. I think CFA has always been popular in the south due to it being abundant there and the taste. I think it broke out here in the north (or the Midwest? I don’t know where they’re focused now) due to service.
People here love nothing more than to bitch about service. They’re ready to burn down KFC and Dunkin because people have gotten their orders wrong or they ran out of product (not unheard of with those two restaurants). People just want to be fussed over if something unfortunate happens, which happens at CFA and Culver’s. They don’t get that from the poor underpaid and overworked kids at the other restaurants. They’re not thinking too deeply about it. They just feel wronged.
FWIW I don’t eat at CFA myself. I’ve had to go several times because my nieces and friend’s kids are addicted to the place (another draw - indoor playground) and not only do I not like the food and find it expensive, but the whole vibe makes me feel hella awkward as a single, childless, butch-looking liberal woman.
[Moderating]
Perhaps I should clarify my previous instructions. Saying that some people like them because of their perceived views on marriage is acceptable. Debating whether or not, or to what extent, they actually hold those views is also not appropriate for CS.
I can’t remember seeing lines at CFA when I was a kid, but I remember that their lemonade was good and their chicken was tasty. I haven’t set foot in or near one since their anti-LGBTQ stance became public. A lot of their popularity among the extremely religious members of my extended family seems to stem from a combination of the heavily Christian leanings of the owners and the activities available for children.
That’s how you Ty one one?
:flees:
I never went to one because for years the only one I knew about was in a food court in a mall that I don’t go to often because it’s a bit of a drive. Plus I don’t eat at mall food courts. Then, they opened one in the lot where my doctor’s office is. I was told that there was *no *assigned spaces in the lot, and once ChickFilA opened I had a lot of problem finding a spot. It almost made me late for my appt the first time. Last time I parked in the area closest to ChickFilA, and THEY HAD INSTALLED SIGNS THAT SAID CUSTOMER PARKING ONLY. Bastards. Liars. I’ll never eat there now. My clinic is moving locations next year, and they’ll actually be closer to home. Yay!
P.S. I looked at the pictures in the menu link posted above, and they just didn’t look very appealing. Usually, a fast food place makes the items look a whole lot better in the pictures, but there was nothing there that looked like anything I’d wait in line for. Got too many other better options. Don’t need any creepy Stepford servers either.
Even with Tim Horton’s, which has managed to brand itself as the place where real Canadians get their coffee and donuts, the product and service still has to be good.
Our nearest Tim Horton’s used go have lines out onto the street almost all the time. But their error rate was atrocious, and the food started declining in quality. Now their drive-through is nearly empty most days. I stopped going because I got really tired of having to check every thing they gave me in case it was wrong - which was about a third of the time.
Also, you can’t help noticing that their staff turnover is insane, which means the place must be a sweatshop. It also explains the error rate. I don’t like contributing to that,
Give me a Christian or Buddhist or Satanic fast food place that treats its employees well, doesn’t screw up orders, and has consistently good food. I don’t give a damn about a store’s politics. One of the features of capitalism is that it allows us to do business with each other despite our differences. And that’s a good thing for civil society.
I am curious about people who think Chick-fil-A is expensive. I find the prices comparable to McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and other fast food restaurants in Little Rock. If I got a spicy chicken sandwich at Wendy’s it’s going to cost about $9.00 which is close to what I’d pay for a chicken sandwich combo at Chick-fil-A. Why do you think Chick-fil-A is expensive when compared to other fast food restaurants?
It’s not that complicated. They serve good food compared to other fast food places, give extremely friendly service in a reasonable amount of time and charge comparable prices to other fast food places.
Maybe because they don’t have a “value menu”? [del]Tightwads[/del] price-conscious customers are going to look for the cheapest options and use them as a guide to how expensive the restaurant is in general.
to me owing one sort of sounds like joining a cult…although 10 k thttps://www.msn.com/en-us/money/smallbusiness/opening-a-chick-fil-a-franchise-costs-just-dollar10000-—-heres-how-to-do-it/ar-AAER1cSo lease a franchise isnt bad
The other side of the coin that you fail to mention is that the one day of week closed also equates to one less day of earnings. Do you seriously think that the place would shut down a day’s worth of business just to make sure they don’t have to pay OT?
The CFA near me is open 15.5 hours a day to customers and probably is open a couple of hours before and after for cleaning and prep. It sure seems that if someone wanted OT, there would be plenty of opportunity to get some. Most/all of the mom and pop places around here are closed on Mondays. I’ve never heard anyone complain about that being done to minimize OT either.
Back to the OP, one thing that hasn’t been mentioned really is their breakfast. I think their chicken and biscuit is as good or better than any other fast food offering. Especially nice is Tuesday when you get a “Secret” extra sandwich with every order.
The people I know who are bonkers over it like the political/religious views of the management…and by the way, they make tasty fast food Mon-Sat.
Man, they really push that place on me, as if they need me to give that place my support. I don’t eat fast food, especially deep fried fast food. That’s reason enough for me to shun the place. The days of operation and owner’s views are that much more irrelevant to me.
bleh i didn’t notice that post was messed up here’s the original thought: to me leasing (you dont own anything like a normal franchisee would) one sort of sounds like joining a cult…although 10 k to lease a franchise isn’t to bad as long as you pass the purity test
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/smallbusiness/opening-a-chick-fil-a-franchise-costs-just-dollar10000-—-heres-how-to-do-it/ar-AAER1cS