It's long been on my bucket list of chain restaurants to try Chick-fil-a. Not having one that I know of in upstate NY (upstate which is beyond Poughkeepsie) we haven't had the chance to try it. After a visit to Six Flags New England, where we knew there was a Chick-Fil-A near, we ventured to our dinner choice. We showed up 5pm, all six of us. The line moved very quick, placed our order and proceeded to our seat. Something felt strange after we placed our order, an unfamiliar feeling. Friendly face, the words "thank you" and a smile. After discussing with my husband these odd occurrences we concluded that what we had experienced was called customer service.
Chick gave us this little square, tall box that had straws and our chicken sauce choices. I was disappointed in the choice of styrofoam cups for beverages, which are not great for the environment. Small thing to overlook. At the table we looked at the flowers and were pleasantly surprised to find that they were real. Our food arrived rather quickly, brought to us by a member of the staff.
We each ordered a sandwich meal, I had the original chicken sandwich with an order of fries and diet Dr. Pepper - not commonly found in fountain drink options. Two of the six in our party had the deluxe chicken sandwich, which from what I could tell included cheese, tomato and green leaf lettuce. Two of our party had the spicy chicken deluxe meal. Which one described as good "but not as good as KFC" and the other claimed he liked it better than KFC. Husband added that the spicy chicken sandwich was not overpowering, but did have a pop attributed not to the cheese but rather the chicken. We also sampled the nuggets. Overall, the chicken was not greasy and had a nice spice in the batter. Chicken itself was juicy but cooked all the way. The coating was not a thick as KFC, but it did have a nice flavor. There were all the standard chicken sauces. We tried one of each, ranch, bbq, parisan (sweet and sour) and the Chick-fil-a sauce which was basically a honey mustard.
The waffle fries, while a different choice, compared to other fast food establishments were not great. There were unsalted, so we added it of course. All the teens enjoyed the ketchup dip and squeeze packets which they stated "were adorable."
One of the subtle things that we quickly noticed was the music that was piped in - we realized that the songs were elevator versions of contemporary Christian tunes we were familiar with. Very nice touch. Noticed on the sign as I was leaving, following the Hobby Lobby business motto - closed on Sundays. Bravo to them. Putting God before the dollar.
Beverages were of the Coke variety and Dr. Pepper. One teen had the frozen lemonade which was almost creamy he said, an opinion seconded by my husband.
During our visit we noticed several employees politely interacting with customers. One staff member made rounds asking if we needed refills on our beverages. When you place an order, they ask for your first name, addressing you that way rather than a number. Chick-fil-a clearly gets customer service and proves you can provide it in a fast food chain.
We still hope that this chain comes to a town near us. Half of the group said it was not better than KFC. The other half said there was not really a comparison. Just marked this off my chain bucket list. Family of six ate for $67 which is not really bad considering we ordered a few extra items. read more