Chik-Fil-A

Four minutes. Four minutes was all it took to pull up in line, request my order, wait for it, receive it and happily drive away. The nearby traffic signal was a longer wait compared to it. And there is only one place where this is possible: Chick fil A.

Named as the number one limited service restaurant for the fourth consecutive year and at the top of the list of the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Chick fil A is a fan favorite for everyone of all ages. With their quality food, expeditious service, and cleanliness, it is my favorite place to go when I’m craving some classic American comfort food on my frequent cheat days.

Their broad menu is filled with clean, high quality food- well, as clean as fast food can be.

Want a salad? They have cobb, Asian, Market, and Southwest. What other fast food restaurant offers healthy options? The most green I’ve seen at other burger places is the super deluxe, which comes with an extra piece of lettuce and pickles. Wow, how healthy.

Craving a sandwich? There’s Grilled, Deluxe, Club, and Spicy Deluxe. All chicken, of course. I cannot tell you how helpful that is. Never in my life have I seen so many varieties of chicken sandwiches.

As a person who doesn’t eat red meat, the idea of a restaurant that only serves chicken is a dream come true. Not only is it healthier, but it’s so unique. While most other restaurants focus on beef and hamburgers, Chick fil A’s goal is to save the cows, so the only meat they serve is chicken. These people also offer you grilled chicken as a healthier alternative! Other places should really take notes.

But that’s not to say that’s all they have. So, to all you vegetarians out there, you still have a chance. You can get delicious salads here, just ask them to hold the chicken. Or you can ask for the sandwiches without the chicken and they’ll happily give it to you as such. And of course, you can have all the fries and milkshakes you want. Vegans are welcome too. They can choose from their many salads, fries, wraps and/or hashbrowns, opting to leave chicken and dairy out. This in itself is both an enigma and a mass achievement: a fast food place that is both vegetarian and vegan friendly.

I’ve learned to really appreciate that, as every year, for religious reasons, my family gives up meat for a month. And that makes it really hard to eat outside, which is why Chick fil A is one of our favorites. I could still get my favorite salads, just not with the meat.

They also have a plethora of sides- from their superfood side salad to their more recent edition of the slightly too salty mac and cheese, they covered just about everything. I mean, seriously, they even have soups here for god's sake! What more could a person need? And don’t even get me started on the waffle fries. It seems like such a basic concept, but it is absolutely revolutionary. Who even came up with the concept? After eating the crispy, salty goodness, I can never look at regular fries the same way. Waffle fries will always remain superior. Especially when dipped in their milkshakes, which happen to be legendary. They have 5 types, all of them at the top of the list for best milkshakes I’ve had. The frozen and sweet, creamy goodness, while probably not the best for me, definitely satisfies my sugar cravings.

Healthy and diverse sides, mouthwatering frozen treats, a myriad of delicious salads and numerous chicken sandwiches? Chick fil A really does have it all.

Although the food surpasses many expectations that other fast food restaurants miserably fail at meeting, it isn’t their only selling point.

Their employees create a very warm and friendly environment in the restaurant. Always polite, always respectful, I fail to remember any experience in which I had been neglected in terms of service.

“Excuse me Ma’am,” and “thank you ma’am’” and last but not least, “have a great day Ma’am,” is all I hear whenever I dine there. And I’m only 16 for god's sake!

Hearing this gives me the validation my fellow peers and teachers don’t care to acknowledge. Their politeness makes you want to come back and doesn’t make you fear asking them things like extra sauces.

I mean, what other restaurants would willingly give me ten sauce packets without a dirty look?

Speaking of sauce, Chick fil A is a heaven for sauce lovers. I mean, they even invented their very own Chick fil A sauce, which is the best thing they could have ever done. Polynesian, garlic and herb ranch, zesty buffalo? Come on, you have to give them points for creativity. Who else invests that much time and effort into creating new dips?

And don’t even get me started on their drive thrus. As briefly mentioned in the beginning, it literally took less than five minutes to get my food.

Usually, I hate going through drive thrus. The anxiety of screaming and repeating my order 30 times to a half broken machine and ending up with the wrong type of drink is a total turn off for any type of food establishment.

But Chick fil A has totally resolved this problem for me and millions of others, I'm sure. They have one key element which no other fast food establishment has the brains to think of: face-to-face ordering. This ingenious concept enables employees to stand throughout the line and take orders from your car with a tablet, similar to the process inside, but you can do it from the luxury of your car.

This way, they never screw up your order and you pay them in person. No more of that awkward pulling up to the window and stretching your card or your bills and coins to the window in hopes of it making it safely to the employee. So glad those days are gone.

I have so much respect to those poor employees, they’re the real mvps here. They’re always out there with a smile on their face, whether the weather be hot or cold, through the arctic snow or the scorching sun, or even those days that it’s raining so hard that you think the world is going to end, they’ll always be there. Ready at your beck and call. How can anyone possibly beat that?

Other than their food and service, they also use all recyclable and reusable containers. On their website, they even promote the use of recycling their packaging into creative arts and crafts projects. Their salad containers have fine print on it, marking that they are dishwasher-safe. And it’s durable, sturdy material, making it effective for long time usage. They’re doing their part in helping the environment. The only downside to this issue is that the actual restaurant lacks a recycling bin. Like, yes, you want us to go green, but it’s kind of hard to do that when the only option we have is the trash.

Another con of the place is that, since they are strictly christian, they are closed on Sunday. And yes, I understand, you want to take the day off and go to Church, and I respect that, I really do. But Sundays are the ultimate lazy days, and it would be nice if we could all have some comfort food on that day. But, hey, I mean, I shouldn’t be complaining. Even superheros deserve a break.

Nevertheless, I’m willing to overlook these little flaws as Chick fil A has done a lot for John Champe. From giving our students discounts to helping with many fundraising events, they’ve always had our backs. And we should be very thankful for that.

Chick fil A is one of the only restaurants with an exponential fan base, ready to defend it as soon as someone says one bad thing about it. You can compare them to those of in a cult, with their utmost love and dedication to the chicken franchise. I don’t know what exactly it is, but people go crazy for this place. But who am I to judge? I know I definitely am.

Chik-Fil-A

43310 Defender Dr,

South Riding, VA

20152