Chick-fil-A ........You're not welcome here.

Culture, Media, General Culture, Chains, General Discussions
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Who do you eat at CFA?

I probably shouldn’t do this - and I’m not trying to start a war - but am really interested. (And should it get heated, please delete.)

So, for those of you who eat there. Why?

  1. I don’t care about the causes they or any company chooses to fund. It has no effect on my purchasing decisions as a consumer.
  2. I agree with the causes they fund, so it’s not an issue to me.
  3. I disagree with their causes, but that chicken is so damn delicious I am willing to compromise my beliefs
  4. Fake news: I don’t believe any of the media on the causes they support is true, no matter what my personal beliefs are
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We may not completely agree. In the US, corporations are legally persons. Like it or not that is true. They have the right to speak on any issue. I personally think that taking positions on social issues is inappropriate. Legal but inappropriate. Google, Dominoes, Chick-fil-A, Hobby Lobby, et al. I take no issue at all with corporations standing up for themselves and their direct issues. Taking positions on minimum wage or food safety is non-partisan and entirely appropriate.

BUT corporations as legal persons also have the right to do stupid things, so if they choose to take stands, as Chick-fil-A, has done consumers have the right to vote with their wallets either in support or objection to those positions. In the US Chick-fil-A is doing great. Their attempt to dip their toe in the UK water didn’t go well.

I’ve never eaten at Chick-fil-A and don’t plan to. This has nothing to do with politics - I just don’t eat fast food at take-out (reference Jacques Pepin “Fast Food My Way”). Now a good delivery pizza once in a while is a different thing… grin

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Possibly they made the assumption that the UK is more like the US than it actually is.

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Just a note for everyone: please make sure to keep the discussion focus on food. Understand the passion involved in topics such as this one. But as you may know, discussions on politics, religion, sexual orientation, etc. can and usually do get contentious quickly.

Please review the forum rules here. https://www.hungryonion.org/faq

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No argument. It did work for McDonalds and KFC among others. People who feel strongly about their beliefs lose sight of reasonable people feeling differently. Said reasonable people lose sight of the fact that people on the other side may well be reasonable also.

This is hard for HO as, again, politics have an impact on food. In the UK, independent pubs are losing ground to corporations. Those companies have generally managed to avoid exposing any social positions they may have. It’s a roll of the dice in the US.

In my opinion we can make our own decisions about what to buy or not. You can decide on the basis of culinary issues (taste, salt, fat, etc.) in which case it is fodder for HO or politics in which case it is not.

Now when Chick-fil-A offers chicken tikka masala in the UK I want to hear about it, and frankly would like someone to ship some to me.

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John:

Did the mall/landlord uphold the lease, or was there even a time frame stated in the lease? I saw they “agreed” to 6 months. Was this before or after people started complaining?

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Now don’t get offended, it’s satire.

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That’s nowhere near a recent matter. The large breweries have always owned many pubs and effectively control many more by contracts requiring it to buying their beer. The true “free house” really started to die off in the 1950s

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OMG, that is too too funny @Lambowner!

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Looks like one finally is opening in Boston too. Our previous mayor refused to support them because of their politics, but now that he’s passed, I guess the corporate machine will keep on rolling.

I know many people who enjoy their food but do not support their political views. I, for one, am glad that I actually find their sandwiches overrated, so I don’t have to feel any guilt.

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I’m not sure what multi-quoting does to HO back office functions. It’s tidy and I like it.

Understood. People were complaining about it during my first trip to the UK in 1981. When I lived in Yatling in 2003ish I couldn’t find a true free house. There was a nice little place, corporate or not next door to a laundromat with good WiFi. If you were nice to the waitress she’d serve you while you were folding your clothes. THAT is service.

My point was that those corporate owners, to my knowledge, keep their politics to themselves. You’re closer to the ground John so I defer to you.

Which bothers me as much as I dislike corporations wearing their politics on their virtual sleeves, local governments making decisions about permitting on the basis of corporate politics is flat wrong. Corporate activism is inappropriate. Government activism is wrong. I am violently opposed to American Nazis. I will defend their (US) First Amendment right to spew their vile message with my life. For the Boston city government to deny a legal business permits (about all the leverage they have) on the basis of politics is wrong. Let the people vote with their wallets. That’s about as apolitical a rant as I can manage.

In the context of pure HO and avoiding fast food, if the campaign manager of Mr. Trump or Ms. Warren wanted to open a restaurant should (US) local government stop them?

This whole thread is based on a premise that is inherently political. That premise assumes that the beliefs of the owners of Chick-fil-A are foul. What business is that of ours? Vote with your wallets but do not make assumptions. As it happens I don’t agree with their positions but at least in the US and I believe in the UK they have the right to hold them.

Now if you want to talk about the obscene amount of fat and sodium in their sandwich I’m all in. If you want to launch a diatribe about the plastic cheese I’m with you. If you think the Chick-fil-A Deluxe chicken sandwich is God’s gift to road food I’m happy to engage. 70 posts downstream we’re still skirting around the politically correct position that Chick-fil-A espouses evil. In my opinion they are wrong, but not evil. Evil is a big word.

I’ve never eaten a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich. People rave about them. People, especially in large numbers are often stupid (I don’t like people very much - John seems okay). How do you get past the plastic cheese? Do they actually manage to deliver really fresh lettuce and tomato or are they the same limp dreck every other fast food outlet produces? Can you get a tomato without white or green woody bits? I’m okay with pickles in 5 gallon (20 l for y’all in the real world) buckets but are they any good?

I have questions about Impossible Burger at Burger King also. All that salt…

Mods: I’m trying to help here. If I’m doing it wrong please drop me a note. I’m rational. grin

On which note and kinda-sorta political I saw a bumper sticker recently I loved. It reads “Any Functional Adult 2020.” Can we here at HO at least pretend to be functional?

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My, how you do run on.

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Post is two characters.

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Bookmark

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The original sandwich was just a pickle slice on a bun without the cheese etc. I enjoy them sans pickle because you get a fresh sandwich and the pickle leaves a small soggy spot. Many love the variety of sauces but I prefer them plain.

I also prefer the strips over nuggets.

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Yep. I type fast.

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I don’t do much fast food. I had McD’s fries a few years ago (fries are the only thing I eat from McD’s). I had BK about 10 years ago. Wendys maybe twice a decade (spicy chicken sandwich plain). But I do eat CFA once or twice a year–the stores are clean, the employees are friendly, the food is ok (I stick to the plain grilled chicken and waffle fries).

Really at any fast food spot you need to avoid the cheese, lettuce, tomato.

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Now we’re talkin’! grin

So what makes a sandwich? We’re at fundamentals here. Is bread, with or without a lubricant like mayo or mustard, and something in between a sandwich? It would be interesting to know what the Chick-fil-A strategy is and how food sells. How many people buy their sandwich without lettuce, tomato, or any of the other options? We can all give our own opinions but the data is in the numbers. Can anyone find them? Do people want their salad in the sandwich or next to it? What sells?

Just looking at the pictures of the product, with lettuce, tomato, and pickle I personally (<opinion) think it doesn’t look very appealing. I foresee having to chew my way through the chicken with lettuce and tomato falling out. When I make a chicken sandwich I slice the meat thinly with my salad grin in the sandwich. I freely admit I’ve never eaten a Chick-fil-A sandwich. From the pictures I don’t imagine I will.

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Hey man! I forgot to write back before. I’m glad you’re ready for some fall action. The bass just started getting here in numbers but I broke my shoulder the other day. I can be the one armed guide/photographer though lol. Just let me know how many sleeves of porkroll to bring :wink:

I’m a nugget guy at CFA. I haven’t had a sandwich in many years. They taste good but those little little fried cubes of breast meat are top notch.

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:crazy_face:

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