#129. Chick-fil-A
Apr 9th by Jon
For those of you not blessed to live in an area that has access to the deliciousness that is Chick-fil-A, it is a restaurant. The food is quick, not fast, cost efficient, not cheap. They serve chicken almost exclusively and are slowly but surely giving fast food restaurants the elbow of death. The reason Christians love them is that the company is run with Christian values. By that I don’t mean they have a Jesus fish on their business card. They are closed on Sundays. This is perhaps the biggest statement that a company that stands to make tens of millions of dollars on the weekends can make about what the Sabbath means to them.
There are no Bible verses inside the restaurant. The fries are called “waffle fries” not “Paul potatoes” or “trinity taters.” They aren’t overt in their faith but they weave it into everything they do and everything they do is great.
Add all that up and Christians can’t wait to throw money at Chick-fil-A. My wife and two kids have eaten hundreds of meals there in the last few years and when I recently did a freelance writing project for them I would have hugged the president except it was a conference call and I had signed paperwork that I would not hug any executives.
Perhaps a friend’s mom best captured the Christian love for Chick-fil-A when she said, “I like going to Chick-fil-A, it feels like tithing.”
Comments
No, they don't have Bible verses on the walls, but the Chilck-Fil-A I worked at in high school had "God's Command: Thou shalt not steal" on the cash registers. It made me laugh.
one thing you forgot to mention. they deep-fry in devil sauce (aka peanut oil).
sadly, some of us can never eat there without certain death. i suppose that is our cross to bear.
Hmm, I'm an agnostic who loves Chik Fil A. Sigh.
Oh! And the workers are so incredibly polite! They always say, "My pleasure" when you thank them for something!
How is some place like this not in Grand Rapids, MI?
i think there will be both … i mean, come on. this is the home of the god who made chickens AND cows, so both will get equal time. and there will be chipotle (paying for chips is worth is b/c the guac is SO MUCH BETTER than moe's. say no to moe's!).
Ok, better late than never, but I have something to share. Recently I have learned that in Chandler, Arizona, (Southeast of Phoenix) there will be both an In-N-Out and a Chick-fil-A very near each other. The former has been there for a few years, I'm guessing the latter will be finished with construction by January or February 2010. Should you ever want to try both on the same day or want to avoid some sort of schism between your friends, they are at the Northeast corner of the 101 freeway (aka Price Rd.) and Chandler Blvd. This has been simulposted to the In-N-Out discussion.
WHY do I live in Seattle?! We don't have Chick-Fil-A OR In-n-out. I only found out that they existed last summer!!
Not only is their policy of being closed on Sundays nice for the employees and the company reputation, but it's fantastic business sense. We easily manipulated humans, always want what we can't have, and thus we crave Chik-Fil-A on Sunday precisely because we can't get it. I'll bet a big chunk of their business is done on Mondays, people who were craving it the day before going in to get their fix (guilty as charged)
chick fil a is not a christian company. I worked there once and the management treated me badly and I was just a teen.
I love Chik-Fil-A. Honestly, I would go there more but they are always so incredibly crowded!
The saddest part of craving Chick-Fil-A on a Sunday is when you have no CFA in your hometown and you can only get it at like airports and stuff. Then you come home from a 2 1/2 week mission trip eating unfamiliar food and you reeeealllllyyyy want CFA at the airport, only to realize that due to jet lag you completely forgot you came back to the States on a Sunday. Also contributed to the "day after retreat blues" for me.
"the workers…always say, "My pleasure" when you thank them for something!"
That's fine but they say it ALL THE TIME. It loses its freshness when it appears that it's a required response. I think they should be able to use alternate responses other than "my pleasure"–just for a change on occasion.
Anita Renfroe has written a song that mentions the joy of Chick-Fil-A sweet tea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHp6C0MapYw
It's the same thing with Forever21 with girls. "John 3:16" is written on the bottom of their bags. After my sister and I read that a couple of years ago, we have been spending so much money there (not to mention their clothes are cute!) we bought shirts that said "Jesus loves you" from there and after that I have been loyal to that store… even though they sell a lot of clothes that maybe we wouldn't really wear…. :/ just a thought.
Also I think that this happens because we are… persecuted now-a-days. It's like if you believe in God or serve God you are the excluded one. I have always explained it to my friends in extremist way. "We, as human beings go from one extreme to the other… so… before way back (Middle ages and stuff like that) everyone was all about God… and now almost in fear of living that way we have as a society… gone to the other extreme of being completely against it. so for us as christians the fact that businesses owners that sell their product to everyone are also letting it be known that they serve a God is a big deal because we feel represented and defended…. I love this blog because… a lot of that persecution and hate that goes on against us… is a result of our own misinterpretation and hypocrisy. ..
LOVE CFA!! I grew up in New England, and they didn't exist up here when I was growing up, so my first exposure was upon moving to Florida at 20. It was a Sunday, and they were closed.
I don't think I ever ate there til 5 years later when I moved to GA. but, i would give almost anything to have one even an hour away! I miss the sandwiches and waffle fries and the (REAL!!) diet lemonade. For someone who's not supposed to have too much sugar, that is a real treat! And i never did mind paying more for it. hmmm…never even thought about it, actually!
Chik-Fil-A pretty much single-handedly saved Oral Roberts University from drowning in debt a couple years back. Now, every building on campus has a CFA inside of it. I like chicken as much as the next person, but sometimes you just want to go to the student center and grab a burger, you know? Yea for them, though!
And isn't great how they treat their chickens with such Christian values – keeping them stacked on top of one another in tight spaces, allowing them just enough room to lovingly peck out each other's eyes…a true picture of God's Peaceable Kingdom…
Tim Hawkins and his Chickfila song.
Priceless. There is a chickfila on my college campus
I agree, but does anyone actually like the pickle on the chicken sandwich?
I do!
I just read Truitt Cathy's autobiography "Eat Mor Chikin: Inspire More People". Wow! What an incredible book. With the state of most large companies now, it is great to know that there still are some businesses run with integrity, professionalism, and hospitality!
Well done Chick -Fil-A!
I also crave Chick-Fil-A on Sundays!
[youtube NsJHqstPuNo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsJHqstPuNo youtube]
We just got a new chick fil a in our area, and I think I single handedly accounted for 50% of their business opening weekend. I love going there because the people are so cheerful when they take your order and when they serve you. It's like getting a shot of rainbows and unicorns with my chicken biscuit and hashbrowns every morning! Who needs coffee after that? I'll be moving to Jacksonville Florida soon and I am hoping that there is a chick fil a nearby.