Chick-Fil-A

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by M_Six

The McD's here had to redo their parking lot to accommodate a double drive-thru because traffic would back up into the street and cause problems. If you have to wait 30 minutes for your fast food, can it really be called that?

I’ve seen a lot of those. The funny thing is in NC on nextdoor I see them constantly complaining about some new fast food place opening. Oh we don’t need more fast food, we need some nice sit down restaurants, blah blah. Meanwhile the drive throughs at these fast food places are always full and the small mom and pop places are empty.

My favorite is one lady who always comments on these threads. It’s always the same thing. Why can’t we have some nice restaurants like an Olive Garden or Applebees… I guess it’s nicer than McDonalds… maybe…

[erickonphoenix]

I concur the food is average at best but it's consistent, the service is good, and meals appeal to kids. We used to hit it at least once a week because of the kids. Now that they're out of the house I can rest knowing I'll never have to sit in the drive thru again.

Note: I will rate the Popeye's spicy chic sando well above the Chic-filet spice chic sando any day of the week.

[KevinC]

Originally Posted by Tyga11

Literally the most overrated restaurant of all time. Their chicken tastes fake and awful. People are lazy though and think it's healthy

I don't think you understand the meaning of the word "literally". Not surprsing as it's become one of the most over- and mis-used words in the English language in recent years.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by Tyga11

Literally the most overrated restaurant of all time. Their chicken tastes fake and awful. People are lazy though and think it's healthy

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by Chihuahua

Agree, especially on how it's perceived as a healthy option. To each his own though.

Uh...they serve grilled chicken entrees as well so not sure what you mean.

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

In the South, they are packed. Like they have "police directing traffic because the triple lane drive thru still has a line of 50 more cars in the roadway" kind of packed. You'd think there was a concert happening with the amount of traffic that's tied to a CFA at lunch. It doesn't matter what time of day it is (other than Sunday), it is ALWAYS packed. I don't know anyone that would perceive it to be a healthy alternate, though. Fast food is still going to do fast food things. OG Chick-Fil-A is here in Atlanta still with some Dwarf Houses. It's a culture thing and commonly referred to as "The Lord's Chicken."

I rarely do fast food, but if I'm traveling and need something real quick, 9 out of 10 times I'm grabbing a Spicy Chicken Sandwich from CFA. Their customer service is ridiculous for a fast food chain. Last time I was in one a couple months back, a guy was standing next to the counter for maybe 5 minutes. Worker walked up asking if he needed anything; when he said he was just waiting for his milkshake, she was apologetic for the wait, upsized his milkshake, and gave him a $20 gift card for his "wait."

Have you been to the special CFA?

https://www.chick-fil-a.com/location...igin=serp_auto

[NikMN]

I don't get the latest chicken trend. There are 6 chicken places in a 3 block radius and all of them are busy. Nothing wrong with chicken but I never had the urge to sit in line to get a sandwich. Did they invent a new chicken?

[c1pher]

I saw a video where they alleged that the chemicals in ChiFilA food had addictive properties. Not sure if true or not, but I see those kind of lines at many ChiFilAs.

[spazzyfry123]

Originally Posted by F32Fleet

Have you been to the special CFA?

https://www.chick-fil-a.com/location...igin=serp_auto

I've never even heard of it. Tropical nuggets

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by c1pher

I saw a video where they alleged that the chemicals in ChiFilA food had addictive properties. Not sure if true or not, but I see those kind of lines at many ChiFilAs.

If you want to dabble in conspiracy theories with food, think about how many of the junk food brands are/were owned by RJR Nabisco....as in RJ Reynolds the tobacco company.

[mjj]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

I worked at one in high school - read Truett Cathy’s biography if you would like to learn more.

https://www.timsweetman.com/p/episod...athy-chick-fil

Across the street from the CFA near us is a PDQ, next to CFA is a “Chicken Guy” and a few spots down is a Popeyes.

Guess which one dominates?

My observations - food is good. They never make a mistake on my order. They always greet you in a positive way. The workers are clean and polite. They are efficiently run.

[DubaiRich]

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Food/chic...y?id=105803218

[RockCrusher]

Originally Posted by M_Six

A new Chick-Fil-A opened last week in the next town over from us. We drove by there today on the way to another store and were stunned by the line of cars waiting to order and get their food. Must have been 40 or 50 cars. I gotta think that was a long wait. The Food Court at the local university here has had a Chick-Fil-A for years and it's open to the public, yet it's empty most of the time. I don't get the attraction, but I'm not a big fried chicken fan. And I wouldn't wait that long for anything, let alone a chicken sammich.

Is it just a "new restaurant" thing or are those places always so mobbed?

CFAs, even established ones, are pretty busy here -- Benton County AR. Drive through lines are backed up out to the street.

This includes the one just a few hundred feet from the Walmart Home Office but also the one down in Fayetteville in the same shopping center as the Barnes/Noble bookstore I sometimes visit.

And the few others -- locations I have not remembered -- I pass occasionally are likewise very busy.

I tried a CFA spicy chicken sandwich. It was ok. I mean it was just a spicy chicken sandwich. About equal to the one I had at Culver's. Blindfolded I don't think I could have known which brand of sandwich I was eating.

Because CFAs are so busy if I want a chicken sandwich I go to Culver's. Culver's is not jammed and I can park my car walk in and order and get my meal and be back in my car in under 5 minutes. I loathe drive through lines.

At Culver's I also have the option of ordering a pork tenderloin sandwich. Don't think CFA offers pork tenderloin sandwiches.

[RockCrusher]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

The lines are much shorter on Sundays.....

But the wait's longer.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by RockCrusher

CFAs, even established ones, are pretty busy here -- Benton County AR. Drive through lines are backed up out to the street.

This includes the one just a few hundred feet from the Walmart Home Office but also the one down in Fayetteville in the same shopping center as the Barnes/Noble bookstore I sometimes visit.

And the few others -- locations I have not remembered -- I pass occasionally are likewise very busy.

I tried a CFA spicy chicken sandwich. It was ok. I mean it was just a spicy chicken sandwich. About equal to the one I had at Culver's. Blindfolded I don't think I could have known which brand of sandwich I was eating.

Because CFAs are so busy if I want a chicken sandwich I go to Culver's. Culver's is not jammed and I can park my car walk in and order and get my meal and be back in my car in under 5 minutes. I loathe drive through lines.

At Culver's I also have the option of ordering a pork tenderloin sandwich. Don't think CFA offers pork tenderloin sandwiches.

I think Culvers is my current favorite fast food burger chain. I don’t know about their chicken sandwiches, but their burgers and shakes are very good. Better than in and out and other places.

[spazzyfry123]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

I think Culvers is my current favorite fast food burger chain. I don’t know about their chicken sandwiches, but their burgers and shakes are very good. Better than in and out and other places.

I had In-and-Out for the first time when I was in California earlier this year. Holy smokes... it was bad. Disappointingly bad.

[kscarrol]

Originally Posted by RockCrusher

But the wait's longer.

Some would say an eternity...

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

I think Culvers is my current favorite fast food burger chain. I don’t know about their chicken sandwiches, but their burgers and shakes are very good. Better than in and out and other places.

They opened one near us a year or so ago. I think it’s a step above fast food burger, but not quite in the fast-casual category. I prefer Culver’s burger to places like Five Guys, which I haven’t been to in years. Chicken tenders are kinda mediocre but haven’t tried the chicken sandwich.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

They opened one near us a year or so ago. I think it’s a step above fast food burger, but not quite in the fast-casual category. I prefer Culver’s burger to places like Five Guys, which I haven’t been to in years. Chicken tenders are kinda mediocre but haven’t tried the chicken sandwich.

Yeah I’m not a huge fan of five guys… their burgers are like… I dunno how to describe it… just too much if that makes any sense. Plus the prices (at least the last time I was there looong ago) were crazy.

I’ve not had anything but burgers and shakes at Culvers but I really like them. I think I mostly like that they are smash burgers so they crisp up on the edges. I also like that they offer cheese curds. I usually do that instead of fries.

We don’t have one super close (probably a good thing) so if I want a burger we tend to do burgerfi which I’m also a fan of, but more $$ and I think they are closing a bunch of locations.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

Yeah I’m not a huge fan of five guys… their burgers are like… I dunno how to describe it… just too much if that makes any sense. Plus the prices (at least the last time I was there looong ago) were crazy.

I’ve not had anything but burgers and shakes at Culvers but I really like them. I think I mostly like that they are smash burgers so they crisp up on the edges. I also like that they offer cheese curds. I usually do that instead of fries.

We don’t have one super close (probably a good thing) so if I want a burger we tend to do burgerfi which I’m also a fan of, but more $$ and I think they are closing a bunch of locations.

The frozen custard at Culvers is also pretty good.

Burger Fi filed for Chapter 11. Not sure what happened to them but I know they acquired Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza a few years ago. Guessing they probably took on too much debt, growth didn't materialize as they projected and the bill came due. We'll see if they survive. If they do they will likely have to scale down and close bad locations. A lot of players in the space including Five Guys and Shake Shack and those stores are not cheap to build out.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

The frozen custard at Culvers is also pretty good.

Burger Fi filed for Chapter 11. Not sure what happened to them but I know they acquired Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza a few years ago. Guessing they probably took on too much debt, growth didn't materialize as they projected and the bill came due. We'll see if they survive. If they do they will likely have to scale down and close bad locations. A lot of players in the space including Five Guys and Shake Shack and those stores are not cheap to build out.

A Sonic Drive-in opened here to great fanfare a few months ago. Within sight of a McD's and another burger joint. The Sonic is almost always empty when I drive by. They built it from scratch, too. That's going to be a big loss for someone.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by M_Six

A Sonic Drive-in opened here to great fanfare a few months ago. Within sight of a McD's and another burger joint. The Sonic is almost always empty when I drive by. They built it from scratch, too. That's going to be a big loss for someone.

There's a Sonic several miles from me. Been there once a few years ago, can't remember if I liked it. Maybe that means I didn't. lol

Use to see a lot of TV commercials for them and they have a pretty big menu. If they were closer I might frequent them and see if they're good or not.

They have hot dogs on their menu. I like hot dogs and not many (if any) places by me sell them these days.