If my memory serves me right, Chick-fil-A has been my favorite fast food restaurant since I first discovered it around 2003. I don't know how it eluded me for so long. Perhaps it was its apparent aversion to the ubiquitous advertising so beloved by the rotten fast food chains. But I shall never forget the first time I set foot in the store near Pittsburgh, in Robinson, PA.
Let's start with the fries. They are waffle fries. With PEEL left on them. Nearly always crunchy, almost never soggy a la McDonald's. A salty, savory festival for the frugal tongue.
Then we have the chicken. The nuggets, the strips, the sandwiches. As a chicken and turkey man, I love the fact that there are so many choices that have nothing to do with Grade F beef. The addition of the spicy chicken sandwich (particularly the deluxe version) in 2009 was an inspired move. And the fantastic free sauces they offer for the chicken are also useful for the fries. I find myself alternating every couple months between buffalo and barbecue but after seven or eight years I was able to determine that the barbecue flavor is indeed superior.
The fountain pop is acceptable but could be better. It might have something to do with the styrofoam cups. It seems that fountain pop is best in plastic (Panera Bread), good in cardboard, and maybe not so good in styrofoam. The Coke Zero goes flat very quickly, even without ice. But all is forgiven, because the cups are massive, reducing the need for numerous refills, and they offer Coke products instead of Pepsi.
The milkshakes are frothy perfection, best enjoyed after a long bike ride in the late spring or early summer. And you can usually get a free one each year by purchasing the legendary calendar in December and using the coupon. The calendar, like the store displays and "fowl poles" in Houston's Minute Maid Park and other ballparks, show just how witty the marketing people are.
I could go on and on about the fruit cups, the brownies, the various breakfast items, but I have something new to report on.
Today Mrs. Noodle and I made our (roughly) biweekly trip to our local Chick-fil-A here in Ohio, where I was shocked to see this:
I will someday write a full post on chicken tortilla soup, but suffice it to say that it is one of my eating specialties. The prospect of eating it at Chick-fil-A gave me chills. I promptly ordered it.
In the spectrum of tortilla soup texture, Chick-fil-A has chosen to land closer to stew than liquid. It's quite creamy, like their delightful chicken noodle soup. It is also very dense with ingredients, which makes it filling, but I'm afraid the density is so excessive that it makes it difficult to identify all the ingredients. The soup is attractive, but not as colorful as it could be because the vegetables are overwhelmed by the soup and chicken. The chicken, however, is the same high quality white meat used in the chicken noodle soup.
This soup is not bad, but nothing about it jumps out. Even the corn, which is usually the best indicator of a quality chicken tortilla soup since it absorbs the soup, assumes a taste that combines the taste of the surrounding ingredients with its own, and finally emits this hybrid taste so well as it is chewed, didn't really make a splash in my mouth. The soup is moderately spicy, but the spice is not quite right. Mrs. Noodle may have summed it up when she reviewed the soup thusly: "Too much cumin for my liking." More salt and less cumin may yet salvage this offering, but for now, stick to the chicken noodle if you need comfort food.
One last thing about Chick-fil-A is that it's a first class organization. The customer service is unrivaled in fast food. The "yes sir, please" and the "thank you, ma'am" and the "my pleasure" never get old. I have calculated Chick-fil-A's correct order rate to be about 97.5% (compared to 31.2% at McDonald's, 35.4% at Wendy's, and 39.6% at Arby's, for example). They walk around handing out mints and offering to refill your drink. This is a fast food restaurant with hiring standards, which is an unusual concept. Across the country, we've found Chick-fil-A employees to be the most well-mannered and conscientious young people in the fast food business. Truett Cathy is a great guy for letting his employees take Sundays off and playing music that may not be great but isn't stale schmaltz, twitpop by and for twelve year olds, or assembly line computerized noise by thugs or teen skanks. All in all, Chick-fil-A makes me feel good. And that's what eating is all about.
CHICK-FIL-A RESTAURANTS
YANKEE NOODLE RATING: 9.9 out of 10 mmmm's.
CHICK-FIL-A TORTILLA SOUP
YANKEE NOODLE RATING: 7.2 out of 10 mmmm's.
