I love Chick-fil-a. The food is always good and the staff is always friendly and polite. I don’t think I’ve ever had poor service there. In fact, perhaps the staff goes to infinity and beyond to accommodate. One day, I ordered a salad with grilled chicken and by mistake, the server gave me chilled chicken. No problem. I will eat it anyway. A few minutes later, while I was in the middle of chomping down my salad, the manager comes over, apologizing for the mistake and hands me a new salad with grilled chicken. I ended up with two salads. No problem for them to correct the mistake or for me to take one home for dinner. Where do you get service like that?
Did you notice that kids are everywhere at the Chick-fil-a? It’s a great environment for them. It’s clean; the bathroom is accessible; the staff provide placemats for the tables, wipes for the hands. The play area is usually neat and clean. It’s a great place to take the kids for a meal.
I went with D and DIL last week for lunch. When I arrived, the parking lot was madness. The line to get into the parking lot was out to the street, so I drove around and parked at Lowes. When I opened the door to the store, the place was packed with moms and tots. Kids swarmed the play area. Bedlam! And there is the host walking around with a big smile on his face and wet washcloth in his hand, wiping down tables, taking drink cups and refilling them, offering to help in whatever way he could, ruffling the hair of the little tots in high chairs. Amazing.
I arrived slightly before D and DIL and the grandkids, when suddenly I saw one of my little progeny flying by running toward the bathroom, his mother bobbing and weaving among those of us waiting in line, chasing after the little critter. DIL came in with two of her three little ones, one with his hand firmly grasped by mom and the other one up around her neck. Surrounding us in line were moms with tots, fries, drinks, and nuggets, and lots of loud talking, mostly moms trying to carry on conversations over the squawking of children wanting to get down or jumping down from their seats to run to the play area already packed with twenty toddlers climbing into the tree house and making a train as they slammed down the slide to the bottom level.
As we ate our lunches and chatted above the pandemonium, no one appeared irritated or frustrated with the general chaos, not even the staff who walked around cheerfully, wiping tables, refilling drinks, and bringing meals.
I watched my grands eat their nuggets, anxiously awaiting the moment that they too could escape the confines of a high chair to run into the play area and contribute their part to the chaos. Their moms encouraged them to eat all the chicken nuggets and applesauce before they ran into the play area with scads of other kids.
Moms use the restaurant for play dates. Not a bad idea, really. Chick-fil-a is a great family place.
I do have one beef with Chick-fil-a, however. What is up with the parking lot? Every Chick-fil-a where I have gone has a parking nightmare. Did you ever notice how many SUVs are in the parking lot? People are backing up on angles, willy nilly, while other cars are aiming for the drive-thru chutes. I have midsize vehicle which is dwarfed by the massive SUVs and when the moms are backing up, I’m in fear for my life. Do I really need to go through this traffic jam for a Southwest Salad with avocado lime dressing? Yes, I think I do. Go, Chick-fil-a.