My first Chik-fil-A

[Lyle]

My wife and I buy a boatload of their calendars every Christmas and distribute them around the office as impersonal gifts.  The coupons included in the first two months alone make it a worthwile money-saving endevour, and the art is silly to boot.  Worthwile and money-saving, of course, unless you've adverse reactions to coupons.  

Yeah, but I really don't like this year's "cow superhero" motiff. Last year's calendar was much better.

Because my local Chick-fil-A is actually 20 minutes away, I only use about 1/3 of the coupons, but it still seems to be worth it for the $5.

June is a crappy promotion. A free large Coke with a Cool Wrap? First of all, why do I want to buy a Cool Wrap instead of the classic CFA sandwich? Second of all... a Coke? That's costing you like... 5 cents, CFA--mostly for the cup.

Wow! Well, one must be coupon specific. But if you enjoy Chik and dine there relatively regularly (as in once every two months) it really is worth it. As you said.

On the other hand, we handed out so many that I don't have one for myself!

[Carolyn Tillie]

i -love- chik-fil-a, finally they are coming to California, woo hoo

They've been here for a while...

[jhlurie]

Yeah, it's why I thought it odd this topic popped up in Southeast. True, the chain started there, but CFA has been a national chain for decades.

[mags]

I am covered in shame, but I can no longer live with my guilty secret.

I like sweet pickles in tuna salad.

Specifically, I use Mt. Olive Sugar-Free, with some chopped scallion. Mmmm....lunch is calling my name.

[cdh]

Love CFA, and prefer them to any other national chain by a long shot. I still have pleasant memories of childhood trips to the mall where a big CFA lemonade (or the promise of one) kept me from getting anti-socially bored out of my skull as my parents shopped for whatever boring stuff they were shopping for. And the sandwiches (with pickles) rock!

[Gifted Gourmet]

I am covered in shame, but I can no longer live with my guilty secret.

I like sweet pickles in tuna salad.

I think it is high time for people to come out of their pickle closets!

Stand up and shout it proudly: I pickle for pleasure!! So there, world!!

[Painting]

i -love- chik-fil-a, finally they are coming to California, woo hoo

They've been here for a while...

The only one I've came across was the one at the Solano mall in fairfield, ca. I was bidding a job there for the mall management when i saw the sign, i jumped up and down and ran to it giddy. My friend tammy would tell me all about the chik-fil-a for years and making fun of me for never expirencing it.

Damn that woman, she was right, freaking awesome fast food. mmmm.

[jhlurie]

I still have pleasant memories of childhood trips to the mall where a big CFA lemonade (or the promise of one) kept me from getting anti-socially bored out of my skull as my parents shopped for whatever boring stuff they were shopping for.

At my local Chick-fil-A they now sell it by the Gallon.

[bleachboy]

At my local Chick-fil-A they now sell it by the Gallon.

Sweet!

I don't think Nashville actually has any stand-alone Chik-Fil-A stores, but I could be wrong. I've always thought of them as a mall-only thing.

[Suzanne F]

I pack the overhead compartment with Mt. Olive Pickles everytime I travel south of the Mason-Dixon line. Love the pickled okra and bread and butter.

Artichoke, you don't have to schlep the bread-and-butter all that way. If you're in NYC, you can get them, and quite a number of other varieties, at the Pathmark under the Manhattan Bridge. I've been getting many varieties of Mt. Olive pickled peppers there.

And I will proudly state: I love sweet pickle relish in my tuna salad. And Hellman's mayo. So there.

[deibu]

I don't think Nashville actually has any stand-alone Chik-Fil-A stores, but I could be wrong. I've always thought of them as a mall-only thing.

20-25 years ago, it used to be a mall-only thing, but they discovered how much more lucrative having drive-thru restaurants was back in the late 80's and started building them.

[mags]

And I will proudly state: I love sweet pickle relish in my tuna salad. And Hellman's mayo. So there.

I knew I liked you.

[Singapore]

Chick-fil-A doesn't put mayo on their sandwich, at least in the locations I've been in. And to my mind, it doesn't need it.

It's good as a stand-alone, but try a sandwich with a packet of mayo and a bit of Tabasco sauce on top. Yummy!

Their chicken nuggets and chicken fingers are great too!

Chik-Fil-A is one of the reasons I became a carpetbagger and moved South.

[pogophiles]

I don't think Nashville actually has any stand-alone Chik-Fil-A stores, but I could be wrong. I've always thought of them as a mall-only thing.

Nashville doesn't, but Murfreesboro does, just off the Hwy 96 exit...

[Milt]

But did you like the pickle???

Yes I did. Of course you are speaking to a pickle fanatic. I pack the overhead compartment with Mt. Olive Pickles everytime I travel south of the Mason-Dixon line. Love the pickled okra and bread and butter.

Suburban Atlanta is considerably below the Mason-Dixon line, and Mt. Olive pickle products are readily available at the chain grocery stores around here.

I just looked at my jar of Mt Olive bread & butter pickles and realized that they are themselves a product of the south. Mt Olive pickles are produced in Mt Olive NC, according to the label.

[chemprof]

 

I just looked at my jar of Mt Olive bread & butter pickles and realized that they are themselves a product of the south. Mt Olive pickles are produced in Mt Olive NC, according to the label.

Yes, and as they say on the local public radio undwriting tag, they're at the corner of "Cucumber and Vine" in Mt. Olive.

Anne

EDIT to add...on topic: My Chik-fil-a that I was just eating for lunch had THREE pickles on it. All which needed to be removed. As others have said, the "juice" they leave behind is tasty.

Edited June 16, 2004 by chemprof (log)

[TheFoodTutor]

...Golden Flake Hot thin & crispy chips (a great chip)...

Yes! Redemption! I am kind of a Golden Flake freak.

I have issues with Golden Flake, but not with the chips themselves, which are just fine, but not exceptional. I don't really like their slogan, "The crispiest chip in the South."

Firstly, I don't like the word "crispy," but that's a personal issue. If something is crispy, it's not any crisper than if it were just crisp, so the word is superfluous, in my mind, and I've been on a personal crusade to abolish its use for a number of years. Feel free to either accuse me of being insane or join in my fight.

Secondly, "The crispiest chip in the South" implies that, if I want a crispier chip, I must go outside of the South to get one. Why do they have crispier chips outside the South? Can't they learn to make them any crispier down here, too? Why would Golden Flake be proud to state that, while they do have crispier chips elsewhere in the country, these here chips are about as crispy as you're gonna' get in these parts.

By the way, I'm new to posting here. I am a Yankee transplant, living in the South for over 10 years. Feel free to tell me to go away, as I am very annoying.

And yes to pickles on Chic-Fil-A, but I only eat there on Sundays, no to sweet pickles in tuna salad, and if you are compiling a tasting menu of southern flavors, you must include a Goo Goo Cluster.

[jhlurie]

And yes to pickles on Chic-Fil-A, but I only eat there on Sundays

This is, I assume, a humorous way of saying you never eat there?

[Gifted Gourmet]

and if you are compiling a tasting menu of southern flavors,  you must include a Goo Goo Cluster.

And perhaps a moon pie? which originated in Tennessee?

I rather imagine that anyone familiar with Chik-fil-A knows that the Truett Cathy's company policy is never to be open on Sundays, so Food Tutor has shown her ability to tweak our senses of humor collectively ....

Edited June 19, 2004 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[Ye-Ye Girl]

Yeah, it's why I thought it odd this topic popped up in Southeast. True, the chain started there, but CFA has been a national chain for decades.

I dearly wish Chick-Fil-A was a national chain, but it's not...quite. There are none at all in the Pacific NW, including Washington, Oregon and Alaska. Also none in Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska.

Any trip back home to Oklahoma necessitates a visit to CFA. The pickle belongs.

And I always make my tuna salad with my own homemade sweet pickles and sweet pickle juice. Same with potato salad. I won't make either if I don't have the pickles on hand.

[TheFoodTutor]

This is, I assume, a humorous way of saying you never eat there?

Yes, it is my attempt at humor, anyway. There's nothing wrong with the chicken sandwiches, but somehow I find that I only crave them on Sundays. And I'm somewhat troubled that those cows haven't learned to spell better by now.

And I think you can include the Moon Pie, but only if you wash it down with an RC.

[jhlurie]

I dearly wish Chick-Fil-A was a national chain, but it's not...quite. There are none at all in the Pacific NW, including Washington, Oregon and Alaska. Also none in Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska.

I don't know. If we insist on a food chain being in every state to be called "national" the list is actually pretty small. I suppose a whole region being missing is closer to a no-no, but even stilll... Jack in the Box is considered a national chain and is missing entirely from the very populous Northeast, for example. Not that we miss it, mind you.

[Verjuice]

I couldn't wait to try Chick-fil-A for the first time, so when we drove past one on our trip to Austin last weekend I insisted that we pull over (we were on our way to dinner at Hudson's on the Bend after pigging out on bbq in Lockhart) so that I could have a taste. I ordered the classic sandwich and when I got back to the car, we each took a bite-- it was so disappointing! Just a plain, dry, lukewarm, underseasoned chicken patty with soggy breading on a flabby buttered bun. It was so dry, actually, that I had trouble swallowing it. I'm sure it was a fluke, but I almost burst into tears.

I didn't know what to make of the pickles, which I would normally love. There were three of them. I ate them and gave the rest of the sandwich to my pup.

Has anyone else been underwhelmed by Chick-fil-A? I'm getting prepared for some chilly draughts on my isolated island.

[Jason Perlow]

White Castle has now introduced a fried Chicken Breast sandwich, which is the same dimensions as their mini burgers. In concept and in execution, its very similar to a Chik-Fil-A, although not as heavily seasoned, and of course, smaller.

http://www.whitecastle.com/_pages/ads.asp?ad=1

By far the "Chicken Breast" sandwich is better than their "Chicken Ring" sandwich, which is much more processed.

I like the sandwich a lot, but make sure you order extra pickle slices to go on it, because the sandwich only has a slice of cheese on it, and it needs the pickles to sort of give it that Chick-Fil-A taste.

[therese]

Just a plain, dry, lukewarm, underseasoned chicken patty with soggy breading on a flabby buttered bun. It was so dry, actually, that I had trouble swallowing it. I'm sure it was a fluke, but I almost burst into tears.

Sounds like you did experience some sort of fluke. Chik-fil-A sandwiches are generally pretty highly seasoned, and also generally quite hot. The chicken (it's an actual piece of chicken breast, not a patty in the way that I think of a patty) is juicy enough that no dressing (like mayonnaise) is necessary, though I wouldn't eat it without something to drink alongside.

The bun is not the point of the a Chik-fil-A, and it does end up on the flabby side as a result of having been wrapped in a foil patch with a hot piece of fried chicken and pickles.

Were I you (and had some free time on my hands) I'd contact Chik-fil-A and point out that you'd had a crappy one (and where, of course, so that they can fix it). They'll almost certainly make it up to you and send you a coupon for a second try.