[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?

[F32Fleet]

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?

Always busy. Had breakfast at one today. Chicken biscuit. Yum.

Their spicy chicken sandwich is good. They'll also crisp up your waffle fries.

[JimmyJazz]

Yeah. Always busy.

[Tyga11]

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

[vreihen16]

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

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

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

Rich!

[Esteban]

It's like In-N-Out Burger; overrated.

Used to like In-N-Out, now it bores me. Sure it's consistent, but that doesn't mean it's good.

Also, religious owners like Chick-Fil-A but they are open on Sundays, unlike Chick-Fil-A.

[BRAKE!]

Chick fil a has carved out a niche market that others have not been able to replicate. All of their food is made in house, including their lemonade which is made from squeezing fresh lemons daily and their chicken which is breaded daily (fyi, I was a previous employee of CFA as a teen). The quality they put into their food plus the culture to strive for highest customer experience is a formula that has not been replicated by other fast food chains that charge CFA prices.

As such, they have had a cultish following as evidenced by their popularity. It doesn’t surprise me that each new opening draws in big crowds. If only they would open their chains to passive investing, I would put my capital to use outside of my index investing

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

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

My wife had a craving or a peppermint shake after church one Sunday so stopped by CFA on her way home. She was shocked to see that she was the only one in the drive-through. Then she had a light bulb moment and realized it was Sunday! She was a bit disappointed she didn't get her shake, so we had to go back on Monday.

[Chihuahua]

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

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

[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?

[RickFLM4]

Fortunately, the line moves faster than any other fast food. It is pretty smooth operation to get that many cars through the line as fast as they do.

Unfortunately, it's still fast food and not really something I want to wait for at all.

[Murf the Surf]

I've never had it. We only have a few here north of the border and no where near me. I'd like to give it a try but my wife is vegetarian so won't be going with me. Maybe next time we're in the US I'll give it a try but I won't line up for it, I don't line up for anything.

[eliphil]

It’s the best fast food around grilled chicken sandwich is very good

[ASAP]

i think the food is great for FF... healthy absolutely not... but probably one of the best fast foods around and at a decent price... and yes its always a mad house

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Fortunately, the line moves faster than any other fast food. It is pretty smooth operation to get that many cars through the line as fast as they do.

Unfortunately, it's still fast food and not really something I want to wait for at all.

correct, i would never actually wait for it lol... its good but not something worth waiting for... the wild thiing is that sometimes the 3 lane drive thru lane is backed up around the block ... are people dumb or what?

[zx10guy]

My daughter loves the place. I find their breaded chicken to be way too salty. When I go there with my daughter, I get the grilled chicken which is decent. My daughter also loves the play area which due to the type of place it is draws in other kids so she can play with them. The one location I had taken her to used to have family night on Tuesdays. That was really fun where that location hired on two people that mainly focused on running that night. They would do various crafts and events for the kids. They've hired a company that has young girls dressed up as Disney characters show up. It was really a great time and all of it was at no cost to the parents. It was the loss leader for parents to come have dinner there with the family. And it worked. The place was even more packed than usual for family night. Then Covid hit that put a stop to everything. When the place returned back to normal operation, I found out the manager/owner of the place decided to shut down family night. This was told to me by one of the employees. Makes me wonder if there is a franchise type setup as no other locations did family night. It's a shame because I have lots of fond memories with my daughter there.

And I would have to bring this up from the religious aspect. One can view their success due to their Christian foundation.

[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."

[dreamingat30fps]

I’ve only been a handful of times and I will say their service does seem better than most other fast food places. That being said I don’t care for it. I don’t see anything special in it. Their chicken nuggets, while decent, give me instant horrible heart burn. I would certainly not wait in line for it and probably wouldn’t even go unless there were no other options.

People are weird though, I’ve given up trying to understand them. I’m pretty sure some people just enjoy waiting in lines, doesn’t matter what they are waiting for as long as they get to wait in a line. We had that near me recently when they opened a Canes and they would have lines so long they were going into the street and cause traffic jams. WTF is wrong with you that you are willing to deal with all that for some fast food fried chicken? I mean even if it was some Michelin star fried chicken and they were giving it away for free I’m not waiting in that line.

[zx10guy]

Funny you mention the being in line herd mentality. There was a car wash (still think it's there) when I was much younger and getting into cars. The car wash had a self service portion along with a full service side. The lines that would from up with people trying to get into that place was pretty ridiculous. So much so that the city had cops there telling people they're no longer allowed to sit out on a the street to wait to get in. A sign was also put up telling people it was not allowed and people would get ticketed.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

People are weird though, I’ve given up trying to understand them. I’m pretty sure some people just enjoy waiting in lines, doesn’t matter what they are waiting for as long as they get to wait in a line. We had that near me recently when they opened a Canes and they would have lines so long they were going into the street and cause traffic jams. WTF is wrong with you that you are willing to deal with all that for some fast food fried chicken? I mean even if it was some Michelin star fried chicken and they were giving it away for free I’m not waiting in that line.

When Qdoba first opened in the Univ. of IL campus town area, they offered a free rice and bean burrito. The line of people stretched for a couple of blocks. A coworker of mine at the time said he waited two hours for his free burrito. I was speechless. I wouldn't wait 2 hours in line for anything, let alone some crappy burrito.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

Funny you mention the being in line herd mentality. There was a car wash (still think it's there) when I was much younger and getting into cars. The car wash had a self service portion along with a full service side. The lines that would from up with people trying to get into that place was pretty ridiculous. So much so that the city had cops there telling people they're no longer allowed to sit out on a the street to wait to get in. A sign was also put up telling people it was not allowed and people would get ticketed.

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?