What's All the Fuss About? (Fast Food Related)

[ronandannette]

OK, so I've just had my first-ever taste of Chick-Fil-A. They are slowly opening a few stores in Canada; ours took almost 2 years to actually launch. They opened about a month ago and DH decided to give it a go today for lunch. The drive-thru line was down the block and it took him 45 minutes to get through. He chose a mixed-bag of grilled chicken club sandwich, regular nuggets, spicy chicken strips and waffle fries. Very, very underwhelming. Not sure what I expected but there's absolutely nothing about that food that's rave-worthy. It's fine, but just. I can't see us going out of our way to go back.

What am I missing about this iconic place?

 

[Christine]

You aren't missing anything. I've never been a huge fan of their chicken. I mean, it's not bad and I'd go there over McDonald's but I just think it's so-so. Even the waffle fries are okay.

I do love their shakes. My son used to work for them. They are big on customer service and I think that's what so many people also enjoy. Being treated well, having someone look you in the eye, and saying My Pleasure for anything you ask.

At Lent they used to have a fried fish sandwich that was VERY good. I didn't see it at all last year. Oh, their breakfast sandwiches are pretty darned good (bacon, egg and cheese biscuit).

 

[RedAngie]

OK, so I've just had my first-ever taste of Chick-Fil-A. They are slowly opening a few stores in Canada; ours took almost 2 years to actually launch. They opened about a month ago and DH decided to give it a go today for lunch. The drive-thru line was down the block and it took him 45 minutes to get through. He chose a mixed-bag of grilled chicken club sandwich, regular nuggets, spicy chicken strips and waffle fries. Very, very underwhelming. Not sure what I expected but there's absolutely nothing about that food that's rave-worthy. It's fine, but just. I can't see us going out of our way to go back.

What am I missing about this iconic place?

IMO you aren’t missing anything. It’s fine, but not worth waiting in long lines or driving out of the way for.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

You have to get the Polynesian sauce and use it liberally on the nuggets and fries.

 

[CdnCarrie]

We had it once in North Dakota years ago, absolutely nothing special about it.

 

[CynBeth]

I actually love CFA but like anything else everyone is different you all might enjoy something I don’t and vice versa.

 

[Meriweather]

I've never been a fan

 

[ronandannette]

You have to get the Polynesian sauce and use it liberally on the nuggets and fries.

What does it taste like and is it any different than the other weird, semi-sweet mayo based sauces they have? We got Honey Roasted BBQ and Chick-Fil-A sauce and they were both just really similar; the colour was even pretty much the same. Also, I would NOT like any kind of sweet sauce on fries.

 

[E&Cmom]

I have not been and kind of felt like that about Shake Shack. I have been twice this year once in Vegas and once in NYC. They were decent but everyone raves about them and I was underwhelmed.

 

[ronandannette]

You aren't missing anything. I've never been a huge fan of their chicken. I mean, it's not bad and I'd go there over McDonald's but I just think it's so-so. Even the waffle fries are okay.

I do love their shakes. My son used to work for them. They are big on customer service and I think that's what so many people also enjoy. Being treated well, having someone look you in the eye, and saying My Pleasure for anything you ask.

At Lent they used to have a fried fish sandwich that was VERY good. I didn't see it at all last year. Oh, their breakfast sandwiches are pretty darned good (bacon, egg and cheese biscuit).

Please and thank-you are plenty good enough for me. And it doesn't look like they're serving breakfast in Canada.
https://www.chick-fil-a.ca/menu

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Glad I'm not the only one.

We have them all over, but people look at me like I've lost my mind when I tell them I don't care for it. I had a boss who used to like to buy us their breakfast sandwiches for small morning roundtable sessions. I didn't want to seem ungrateful, so I'd take mine and save it for later (which meant finding someone else who wanted it). When DD18 was diagnosed with her allergies, I remember her allergist joyfully telling us that she can still have their food because of how heavily they refine their peanut oil. No thanks! She doesn't like it either.

 

[Kitty 34]

Had it once when visiting one of our sons in Indianapolis. Was so not a fan. Too greasy for me.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I've never eaten there before and I have 0 interest in trying it. People give me grief for saying that but I'm not stopping them from going. I'll go elsewhere for fast food chicken (I did recently try Raising Cane's for the first time as they opened a location near me and that food was awful. Chicken didn't have a single flake of seasoning and tasted rubber-y.)

 

[tvguy]

Guy from New York I worked with was beside himself when the first location opened here so a lot of us tried it, and he was beside himself again when we all said it was no big deal. That was before they caught on, never was a wait in those days.
But I have to say, KFC isn't as good as what I remember it being years ago either.
And, I was in High School during the 1973 Beef boycott, and my mom TOTALLY embraced the boycott, soooooooooooooooo we ate a lot of chicken. A life time of chicken. So my wife is a victim of that as she could eat chicken three meals a day, and I could eat it three times a month and be happy.
But, I will admit Chick Fil A must be doing something right because after building more and more restaurants, they still have long lines of customers. And the effort they put into traffic control around their restaurant is impressive. The two closest to me share a parking lot with In and Out, so gridlock is a constant there.

 

[Planogirl]

A lot depends on the location like any restaurant and of course your own tastes.

I like their shakes and (seasonal) chicken tortilla soup. Also, their strips are way better than their nuggets. Lines are long here but move fast.

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

I said the same thing when it came near me. Its still a 30 minute drive so I've only had it a couple times while I was up that way for another reason.

But I will say its a heck of a lot better than other fast food as far as quality goes. And the price is now no longer that much higher than crappy McDonald's so I've started seeing the value in eating there vs other fast food.
In general though I rather eat at a casual sit down where the prices aren't much more than fast food or I rather just eat at home.

 

[Disneylover99]

What am I missing about this iconic place?

Nothing really. It’s just a shiny new toy at the moment. Crowds will die down.

We got our first store in the Toronto area, just over 5 years ago. Now there are at least 3 stores in my vicinity. We like it better than KFC (too greasy) and Popeyes (too salty). But now it’s just another fast food choice that we might get on occasion.
But it’s a decent option if you want some quick chicken.

 

[ronandannette]

Nothing really. It’s just a shiny new toy at the moment. Crowds will die down.

We got our first store in the Toronto area, just over 5 years ago. Now there are at least 3 stores in my vicinity. We like it better than KFC (too greasy) and Popeyes (too salty). But now it’s just another fast food choice that we might get on occasion.
But it’s a decent option if you want some quick chicken.

Part of my issue, I guess, is that I'm really not a chicken sandwich person, or a nugget person for that matter. I'd rather have actual chicken from either KFC or Popeye's. I am happy to have finally checked it out though. The mystique was very intriguing.

 

[tvguy]

Nothing really. It’s just a shiny new toy at the moment. Crowds will die down.

We got our first store in the Toronto area, just over 5 years ago. Now there are at least 3 stores in my vicinity. We like it better than KFC (too greasy) and Popeyes (too salty). But now it’s just another fast food choice that we might get on occasion.
But it’s a decent option if you want some quick chicken.

Crowds really exploded here during the pandemic. It was busy before the pandemic, it's nuts now.

 

[Disneylover99]

Part of my issue, I guess, is that I'm really not a chicken sandwich person, or a nugget person for that matter. I'd rather have actual chicken from either KFC or Popeye's. I am happy to have finally checked it out though. The mystique was very intriguing.

We first tried it in Georgia several years ago and we all remember loving it! Every time we drove to Florida, we stopped at the same location going there and back.
Now that we have them here, we’ve got no desire to stop.