Okay, I’m going to get really real here: Chick-fil-A is a massive cultural phenomenon, and I do not get the hype, nor do I think CFA deserves the hype. While, yes, its French fries are amazing and something I tend to crave every so often, their chicken—the main product they sell—is, at best, mediocre. I know it seems like an unpopular opinion, but every person I have spoken to has agreed with me, and I promise we are not crazy. Let me break it down for you.
I did not grow up with Chick-fil-A. It was in the food court at the mall, but there were no stand-alone CFA stores so I rarely had it if at all. When I did get it once every four years at the mall, all I remember is being excited about trading the toy in for an ice cream cone. I remember nothing about eating the actual chicken itself. It wasn’t until I got to college that Chick-fil-A became a regular occurrence (and disappointment) in my life and diet.
So, let’s talk about their prime suspect and biggest let down: the chicken itself. I’ll admit that they use good quality chicken, and it’s definitely real, but it’s what they do with it that just sucks. The chicken is quite possibly the blandest chicken I have ever eaten in my life, which is probably why they have to have good sauces (and I admit they are good). The breading is weird and rarely ever sticks to the chicken, and the weirdo aluminum bag they put it in that only makes the bread sweaty does not help! Even worse is when you get the eight-count nugget meal and some of them are little just balls of fat or tendons! Who doesn’t take that crap out?
Courtesy: Thrillist
Another issue I have, and this might just be an on-campus FSU Chick-fil-A problem, but it still exists: they run out of everything. All the time. It’ll be six-thirty, a very average dinner time, and you ask for a nugget meal.
“I’m sorry but we’re out of nuggets.”
Okay, how about an original sandwich?
“Oh, we’re out of that too.”
“What do you have?”
“French fries.”
Excuse me? You only have French fries! Dude, come on. Granted, CFA’s fries are one hundred and fifty percent the best thing on their menu, and I would definitely just order two sets of fries as a meal, but you cannot give me any viable reason why Chick-fil-A is out of chicken at such a reasonable time.
I don’t want to hate Chick-fil-a. I really don’t. I want to love this relatively cheap fast food place that’s in a very convenient place on campus, but I just . . . can’t. Its sandwiches are sweaty, their chicken literally just tastes like oil, and, to top it all off, they are closed on Sundays. Sorry, friends, but I just don’t get it.