Posted on 06/12/2017 11:31:54 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
People love Chick-fil-A, the poultry-centric fast-food chain whose corporate purpose is to “glorify God,” and whose strict Sunday closure means that every employee gets at least one day of rest.
People love the carnival-like waffle fries, the neonatal ward-like hospitality, the cleanliness on par with a Silicon Valley chip manufacturer, the fresh-squeezed lemonade spiked with soft-serve ice cream, the aromatic peach shakes, the admirably bare-bones fried-chicken sandwich, the viral fan song set to the tune of the Beatles’s “Yesterday,” and the famous Polynesian sauce, an agrodolce condiment that looks like what would happen if a stop sign were melted down in a magical volcano made of pineapple, ginger, and corn syrup.
People don’t love Chick-fil-A, the Atlanta-based, family-owned chain that’s heavily rooted in the South but that’s expanding aggressively into new markets like New York and Washington, fueling long lines and, occasionally, opposition. Millions of dollars of the chain’s past profits funded groups that opposed same-sex marriage during an era when millions of Americans were fighting for their civil rights; smaller donations went to a group that practiced conversion therapy, a practice that stems from the discredited belief that homosexuality is a mental illness.
About a year before the Supreme Court struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act in June 2013, chief executive Dan Cathy said that “we’re inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.” Following an uproar over those comments, Chick-fil-A pledged, on Facebook, to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena, and “to treat everyone “with honor, dignity and respect,” regardless of sexual orientation.
This is all to say, reckoning with Chick-fil-A is complicated. There’s the social question, which is how a Biblically grounded institution — whose $8 billion in sales dwarf KFC’s domestic operations — will fare as it expands outside of regions where it’s perceived as a beloved community cornerstone, rather than a venue whose mere presence evokes the type of anger normally directed at unqualified politicians.
And there’s the culinary question, which is whether you should brave the (fast-moving) lines at the home of the “original” pressure-fried chicken sandwich, or whether you should patronize more ambitious (and progressive) poultry-purveying peers like Fuku (only in New York) or Shake Shack.
I used to visit the Chick-fil-A during my D.C. college days, circa 2000, as a cheap and reasonably tasty source of protein after a workout. Nearly two decades later, in my capacity as a restaurant critic, I’m here to report that the increasingly ubiquitous chain serves a pretty good fast-food breakfast, a pretty great frozen coffee, and a pretty average chicken sandwich.
I’m also here to report that it’s the only top 10 quick-service restaurant that doesn’t mention sexual orientation in its online equal opportunity statement, and that it holds a zero rating on LGBT benefits and worker protections from a prominent advocacy group. McDonald’s scored 100. (When I asked Chick-fil-A about this, a rep responded with a general statement reaffirming its commitment to equal opportunity and said that it’s up to local franchisees to determine benefits.)
New York City's first standalone location of Chick-fil-A opened nearly two years ago to small protests and heavy lines. The chain plans on opening about a dozen restaurants across the five boroughs in the next three years, and it’s hard to blame it; the three locations I visited for this review continue to attract the type of fervent lunchtime crowds one might’ve expected during the early days at Momofuku Noodle Bar.
Chick-fil-A’s draw is simplicity: It’s all about the chicken. There are no burgers, hot dogs, tacos, cakes, hand pies, or lunchtime burritos — unless you count the 1990s-style wrap sandwich. There isn’t any beef, and the only pork is relegated to a bit of breakfast sausage or bacon.
That simplicity extends to the chicken sandwich, which is largely free from adulterants. The larger fast-food industry, which has no problem selling Froot Loop shakes and other things that will turn our livers into foie gras, generally abides by the false assumption that America wants a crummy house salad — watery lettuce, out-of-season tomatoes, and a chokehold of mayo — on its chicken sandwiches. Chick-fil-A knows better: The classic sandwich is nothing more than chicken, pickles (always on the bottom, so your tongue is instantly zapped with acidity), a white bun that gets out of the way of the chicken, butter, sugar, and enough salt — 1,350 milligrams — to turn your duodenum into charcuterie.
Structurally, it’s tempting to call it the platonic ideal of the chicken sandwich. It doesn’t exist to highlight infinite trendy toppings or revel in assembly-line customization, a la Chipotle. It exists to show off chicken. Until you start eating it. And you realize it’s not showing off much at all.
The only chicken at Chick-fil-A is boneless, skinless breast meat. While some parts of the culinary world explore how to extract more nose-to-tail goodness from poultry, or at least find a way to make sure your white meat doesn’t taste like seitan, the country’s most prominent chicken chain is focusing on the part of the chicken that bores, and that, in the hands of the corporate chefs here, really doesn’t taste like a whole lot.
To be fair, not a lot of folks turn to fast-food chicken expecting an epicurean inquiry into poultry funk or arcane breeding. People eat fast-food chicken for salt, fat, and perhaps most importantly, crunch. Problem is, Chick-fil-A’s chicken has too much salt, not enough fat, and very little crunch. The chief flavors of the sandwich are industrial neon pickle, sugar, and peanut oil.
If we lived in a post-apocalyptic world where Chick-fil-A was the only restaurant chain and all the remaining medical centers still had world-class dialysis machines, maybe this would suffice. But walk into any Shake Shack and your chicken sandwich will shatter with eons more crunch. It’s enough to make you want to forgive the mayo. Swing by a Fuku, whose lean butter- and pickle-topped sandwich is heavily influenced by Chick-fil-A, and you’ll experience an incendiary thigh meat with tons more flavor and texture. Heck, even drop by McDonald’s, order the buttermilk crispy chicken sandwich, hold the tomato, and you’ll still have a chicken sandwich with more texture and less sodium shock. The state of fast-food chicken sandwiches is strong, and The Chick just isn’t at the top of the list anymore.
Chick-fil-A, alas, doesn’t have much to worry about financially; it’s currently America’s favorite fast-food restaurant, according to one consumer satisfaction index. Sales actually soared the year Cathy made his controversial remarks. That means we can all expect more mayo-free chicken sandwiches across our fruited plain. So when you find yourself at Chick-fil-A, by choice or by chance, here’s a rundown of what’s great, what’s good, and what other prominent chains do better.
Chick-n-Minis (aka mini chicken sandwiches, breakfast only): These nuggets stuffed into mini yeast rolls aren’t a pretty dish; the craggy bits of breaded chicken are halfway falling out of the undersized rolls, some of which are nearly broken by the time you pick them up. If you saw these at a hot buffet you’d hop into your car and find another hot buffet. So be it; the rolls, brushed with honey butter, are chain’s best foil for its salt-lick chicken. This is a dish that doesn’t try to be something better than it is; it basks in the baseness of its own junk-food turpitude. Rating: 9/10. Calories: 350. Fat: 14g. Sodium: 880mg.
This guy is a nut.
Chick-fil-A is great because they know how to properly cook chicken.
Almost every other restaurant should be prohibited by law from even attempting white meat, and a good number barred from dark meat.
They toughen it and dry it out so badly that it can be pulled off in strings and used to floss teeth.
And that lemon drink of theirs is to me the best lemon I’ve ever had.
So does the drive through line that wraps around the building every time I go to one
Also he forgot the clean cut kids that speak English and get your order right every time as a selling point. It is nice to get fast efficient service with a smile
If a restaurant serving up high-fat/high-sodium items was contributing money to Planned Parenthood the author would be praising them and urging everyone to go.
I don’t believe authors who drop French words like foie gras and charcuterie.
Looking for nearest one now.
PS, $hitface, a “restaurant critic” should stick to talking about food, not gay politics.
” doesn’t mention sexual orientation in its online equal opportunity statement, and that it holds a zero rating on LGBT benefits and worker protections from a prominent advocacy group.”
This is enough for me! Chick-Fil-A for dinner tonight!
Hey, fudgepacker. Thanks for letting us know what our nugget order is endorsing. I’m heading for Chick-fil-a tomorrow !
There is a fairly new Chick fila in Bellevue, WA (Just outside Seattle) and the lines are around the building at meal times when I have driven by it. This is in liberal central territory.
Exactly how has that belief been discredited?
By proving in some manner that the original claim was incorrect?
No.
No proof has been offered.
By the forcing and coercing the psychiatric community to cease and desist (said force and coercion being applied by the homosexual community itself)?
Why, yes.
That's how it was done.
This is similar to what would happen if those with "multiple personality disorder" were to gather into a collective community and demand that psychiatrists declare them each to be a self-diverse population and not mentally ill.
"I am not ill...I am just my own posse."
Sorry, Ryan, but I will continue to eat at Chik-Fil-A for two reasons. First, they serve quality food despite what you might think. Second, I don’t take advice on where to eat or where not to eat from faggots.
Not in my opinion.
Though it seems evident this Sutton character feels the need to demonstrate his own lefty (and homosexual?) creds.
The waffle fries are the one thing I don’t care for.
Still go there get the fries but not my favorite .
The takeaway is that the company is Un-PC. Everything else is irrelevant.
I support the idea of C-F-A.
I am simply not crazy about their food.
Every time I go down south, I try it. But it just doesn’t do it for me.
More crunch usually means less chicken.
Swing by a Fuku, whose lean butter- and pickle-topped sandwich is heavily influenced by Chick-fil-A, and you’ll experience an incendiary thigh meat with tons more flavor and texture.
Using a cheaper cut of meat means more profit.
Heck, even drop by McDonald’s, order the buttermilk crispy chicken sandwich, hold the tomato, and you’ll still have a chicken sandwich with more texture and less sodium shock.
McDonalds uses chicken in their chicken sandwich?
It’s called “excellence” -— a foreign concept to most liberals.
I’ve never seen a Chick-fil-A go downhill, not even the oldest location locally, a walk-up in a mall food court that has been there since the seventies. They’re all clean, friendly places with clean, friendly people working there, who are all fluent in English, in addition to being courteous and efficient. The food is above par for fast food. I always get the Spicy Chicken Deluxe combo with waffle fries and ask for two containers of Chick-fil-A sauce, one for the sandwich and one for the fries. Not bad, not bad at all. The sandwich is even pretty, the lettuce and tomato are not far removed from the photos, unlike any other fast food chain you could name.
I must admit those are powerful, almost irresistible reasons TO eat at C-fil-A, but after having tried their products, I simply don't enjoy the taste of their choice of spices.
But I WILL do every other way in my power I can think of to support their business model!
The reason is simple : in the reality universe I inhabit, sodomy and other biological aberrations are not even remotely civil rights.
On the other hand, Freedom of Religion is; EXPLICITLY!
I love salty food but any at all kicks my posterior at the table. Heart issues; profuse sweating, chest pain and difficulty breathing. I almost can't eat out anymore at all.
Met my friend at the local CFA today for lunch and tried their frozen coffee slushie-type drink for the first time. It was wonderful!! I could get addicted.
Arrived at 11:15 and the place was packed already. Inside, the lines were very long. The double-lane drive-through never ended. Many groups of teenagers were there, some wearing t-shirts identifying them as volunteers for missions programs. Employees are beyond competent, up-beat, and remarkably courteous.
I’m thrilled that conservative businesses who take a bold stand are achieving great successes.
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