Let me preface by saying I am a huge Chick-fil-A fan and due to the unfortunate fact that there isn't one in Cambridge/Boston, I exclusively drive 30 minutes to get my spicy chicken deluxe here. Whenever I go on a road trip, Chick-fil-A is where I get breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I have visited many locations and this one is objectively the worst in service quality.
Well, the service would be acceptable if this were Taco Bell or McDonald's but because Chick-fil-A is renowned for its excellent service, this location is a disappointment.
I have had my order messed up on three separate occasions with all orders placed via the mobile app, which makes it even less excusable. If any employee at this location paid even the slightest bit of attention, someone would have noticed that an entire box of chicken nugget was missing, a chicken filet (they even printed the correct label for it on the box) became a chicken sandwich, or the fork that I requested was nowhere in the bag. You know what's even worse? Water cups without straws. How can something so routine that it should be muscle memory at this point be messed up? How do you work the drive-through for more than 30 minutes and not automatically include a straw for every drink you hand over?
I normally would let this slide but because they closed dine-in due to COVID-19, we had to do curbside pickup. The whole point is to avoid contact and interaction as much as possible but because I paid for my damn chicken nuggets, I had to drive back, get out of my car, risk infecting you / getting infected myself to ask for my paid chicken nuggets. The employee seemed nonchalant about this whole situation and didn't apologize for screwing this up probably because they messed up so much that they are desensitized to it.
I believe what I experienced is just a symptom of a bigger underlying problem of hiring unmotivated workers who do not care about what Chick-fil-A stands for. In this world where poor service and shaky values are ubiquitous, Chick-fil-A is a beacon that attracts customers for its delicious food, solid values, and more importantly, quality service. It's one of the few restaurants, accessible to all economic classes, where you can expect to be treated with respect, courtesy, and care. By those metrics, this location is an utter failure and only tarnishes the name that the other locations uphold.
I was going to give this location a one star rating. However, the food that I did get is still delicious, perhaps more of a testament to Chick-fil-A's recipe rather than this location's ability to run a successful franchise so I will add one additional star.
Do yourself a favor, skip this one. read more