The Wendy’s sandwich actually did have a bit of heat to it, but I (and my brother and cousin) felt it was more from the jalapenos than any sort of ghost pepper. If you’re not used to heat at all, it’s got a good kick to it. If you are used to heat, no, it’s not really that hot, but it is hotter than most chain restaurants version of spicy. Nothing like a habanero, much less a ghost pepper in terms of heat.
Offer not valid in Nashville, TN for certain values of “mainstream.” We’ve got a couple local chains whose chicken will burn a hole in your stomach lining if you can get it down that far.
It’s not a chain, but I’ve been down to Prince’s for Nashville’s hot chicken, and I ordered the xtra hot (they wouldn’t let me order the xxxtra hot—actually, I did order the xxxtra hot, but the woman behind the counter said I don’t want that, and I insisted I did, and I think it ended with me just backing down and getting the xtra hot. I’m actually unclear whether I got the xtra hot or the xxxtra hot), and, Christ on a cracker, that was some deliciously spicy chicken. They did not mess around. If that’s indicative of spice levels at local chains, I am thoroughly impressed. Even the suicide wings at various chicken places in Buffalo did not attain the heat levels of Prince’s xtra hot. There’s nothing hotter than a cayenne on it, but there’s just so much of it that it feels like habanero or higher in terms of heat.
I’ve only gone to CFA once, just to educate an inquiring mind. I though it was nice that they used leafy lettuce on the sandwich, instead of iceberg shit. And the bun was better than average, less reminiscent of American White Bread.
The Chick-fil-A locations at Harstfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport are to be avoided like the plague. Worst Chick-fil-A locations known to mankind. Especially the one in Terminal A. :mad:
It’s been years but I think I ate Chick-fil-A in the Cincinnati airport.
The servers are unfailingly polite because they hire generally polite people to start with, and then hold them to that standard. And that’s a GOOD thing, not the bad thing you imply. Strong corporate quality assurance checks were what made Carl’s Jr. an excellent chain in the 70s and 80s, in the pre-franchise days; my ex-wife ran a CJ’s and the QA score was all important; it kept everyone on their toes, doing the right thing. Contrast that to the scene in most McDonald’s restaurants, where you see employees (especially young ones) standing around chit-chatting and doing nothing useful, despite unclean, unstocked dining rooms, orders ready to be served, and people wanting to have their orders taken. :rolleyes:
And I have some familiarity with who gets hired because I taught at the local high school, and, thus, know the personalities of the ones who get hire at the local fast food joints. I never saw one of my lazy, attitude-laden students working at the Chick-fil-A. 
Yeah, I can’t see “They hire polite, hardworking people and then expect them to remain polite and hardworking” as all that bad of a thing. Professionalism and competence is, after all, what they’re paying them for.
I agree that it’s a positive - I’ve never worked for a franchise but I did work for cold stone and they actually have required management seminars and offer hiring instructions and they actually seriously follow up with their standards. I was thrilled, but the owners who were hoping to have a hands-off approach got burned a couple of times and were seriously grumpy that corporate cared so much.
Our chik fil a in town got busted to another franchise owner after the first one didn’t keep the place up, and it’s way more popular now that it’s clean and well-run.
I don’t like the corporation but they have very solid business sense and they run a tight ship. Very controlling, very customer focused, very Disney. Very good policy for them.
I don’t generally eat beef or pork, and CA’s chicken offerings taste better to me than those of other fast food places.
CA employees are friendly, polite, and competent. This is absolutely not true at other local fast food places, where I often leave angry.
The number one determining factor for me is competence. In 15 years, the local CA has never once screwed up my order. McD’s and Wendy’s screw it up every single time; it’s like a competition to see if I can manage to catch their latest screw up before leaving. The employees may be awful at their stated job, but they are brilliant at finding ways to get things wrong.
The local CA makes an effort to correct problems (such as drive-through lane traffic backing up into the road). At other local fast food places, problems are forever.
Prince’s is what I had in mind, since they’re (arguably) the original here and have opened a second location which in my mind qualifies them as a “local chain.” There are a couple of others in the area, like Hattie B’s, and locals like to argue about which are the best.
For the uninitiated, Nashville hot chicken is unlike Buffalo wings in that it’s not covered in sauce, it’s just covered (and I mean covered) in spice, primarily cayenne. Prince’s generally will not sell xxxtra-hot to non-regulars because most people can’t eat it (and that includes me. I only even get the xtra hot if I’m not very hungry, because more than one piece will mess me up the rest of the day).
I’ve never been to one and never will. When I’m with a group and someone suggests CFA, I explain my point of view and suggest an alternative.
nvm
Part of it may be the novelty (there are none near us), but my kids prefer Chick-Fil-A to any other fast food restaurant, at least partly because they are not fans of fast food hamburgers. We all like their chicken nuggets, because the meat is not ground and the breading is light. The kids like being able to pick their own sauce. One kid is a particularly picky eater so when we find a restaurant we all like we stick with it.
I don’t care for their politics and avoid them on that basis alone but on a few occasions it was unavoidable. I was impressed with them, relative to other fast food options.
The restaurants I’ve been in were clean, well staffed, and the workers were incredibly polite and friendly. I can almost never say all of that about McDonalds, Wendy’s, and KFC/Popeyes/Churches, etc. chicken restaurants.
The chicken sandwiches ARE delicious and superior in my opinion to the competition.
And the waffle fries… the perfect ketchup delivery device!!!
Like I said, I don’t eat there if I can absolutely avoid it but when I have… I get the hype, it was a very satisfying experience each time (for fast food).
I don’t like their politics, either, but there’s a new one being built in my city so we’ll probably try them when we can get near the place. It’s going to be a traffic nightmare, though. It’s RIGHT on the main highway, to the point that the drive-thru line will spill out and block highway traffic.
I have to give them credit, though. There’s a historic flagpole on their property and they asked the city to move it months ago. They could’ve just ripped it down. It’s not a city flagpole, though, it’s under control of the historical society who wants to put it somewhere else, but needs to store it until a location is secured. They’re having trouble finding someplace to store a gigantic 35-foot flagpole* so it’s still on CFA’s property. Pretty cool of them.
*I think the city should kick in some money to mitigate some of the ridiculous crap they’ve done.
I do not know this to be true, but when one looks at where Chick-fil-A sites their restaurants, one has to believe they control costs a bit by taking property illy suited to be a fast food restaurant with drive thru. It’s my one and only complaint about the chain. Getting in and out of them is often a real pain. 
I routinely get the kid’s 6-pack nuggets. I substitute fruit cup for fries and trade in my toy for ice cream, so I have fruit and ice cream for dessert.
StG
There are many reasons, of course, but Chick-Fil-A restaurants have a well deserved reputation for making a “consistently” delicious chicken sandwich. The shakes are good (yay peach), the waffle fries are good, the help is pleasant, but it’s the consistently good chicken sandwiches that bring the people back time, and time, again. Which explains the long lines.
People won’t wait in long lines for inconsistent, or mediocre, food. Especially when there are so many other options available.
I’ve heard that besides making the effort to be less homophobic, they’ve additionally knocked off the “Have a blessed day!” bullshit.
Anybody know if that’s true?