I hate to sound like a commercial, and I know I’ve gone on & on about this before; but Chick-fil-A is consistently the best fast food chain around, without fail. I signed up for the Chick-fil-A of South Hills mailing list a while ago, and I’m always getting coupons and emails about specials and post-cards in the mail. One great recent one was that if you went in on Tax Day (April 15th for those anarchists out there) & saved your receipt, you could get the same meal for free on any day in May just by handing over the receipt! How cool is that?
The most recent cool promotion is that I got an invite in my email to request an invitation to try their new spicy chicken sandwich before it’s widely available next week. (The invites seemed to pop up all over Twitter & Facebook too, so they were readily available if you knew where to look!) I made the reservation, and printed an invitation with a custom barcode. I signed the wife up, so we could both enjoy a new sandwich.
Tonight we went & redeemed the coupons in the midst of some other errands, and the sandwiches were excellent… but the service (as always) was top notch. It was busy, but we were in & out of line quite quickly. We were greeted with a smile by the young girl at the cash register even though it was obviously a crazy work night. We even received beaded necklaces with a hot chili pepper charm to go along with our sandwiches. Of course, it’s always “my pleasure” instead of “you’re welcome” when you thank them for anything. Our food was out in a reasonably quick time, and seconds after we seated ourselves another young man in the dining area politely asked if we had everything that we needed.
About halfway through our meal, another young man came out with an envelope, on it was handwritten “Eric and Bethany Carroll”, and inside was this…
Chick-fil-A | Thank you for coming to the Spicy Premiere Week!
Free Hand Spun Milkshake
…yeah, it looks like the employees on duty tonight actually signed the postcard/coupon thing!
Apparently, it’s working because I’m blogging about it, and spreading the word, and I’ll be talking about it, and I’ll be crazy by working it in when anything remotely related comes up in conversation.
Before I was halfway to the garbage can on our way out this evening, the young man from the dining room took my tray & dumped it, this is usually a regular occurrence here too… just imagine it happening at McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, KFC, or Taco Bell. You can’t, can you?
These guys know how to get me to keep coming back, and how to get me to talk about them. Genius, I tell you. So if you’re into Spicy Chicken, try the new sandwich out. If not, check out Chick-fil-A anyway, for the best fast food experience you’ve had in a long time.
So I’m not completely biased… Chick-fil-A, if you’re listening, add baked potatoes to the menu! That’s the one thing you’re missing. I know I had one at a CFA in Florida… we want them in PA too!
World (and Lunar) Domination 
I LOVE Chick-Fil-A! It is absolutely the best. My husband tried the spicy chicken yesterday (by special invitation, like you) and while we didn’t get the cool treatment here in Ohio that you did, he definitely will have it again. Much better than Wendy’s, he says.
Ours has done the special receipt thing a few times, and I think it’s a great deal. Plus, you know you’re eating real chicken there, not some scary processed thing. (Thanks, Jamie Oliver!)
I also like that they’re closed on Sundays. I often crave it those days, but I think it’s great that they believe in God and family so much!
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Yeah, the Chick-fil-A in South Hills seems to be a cut above all the others around (sorry Robinson, Century III, Monroeville, & Greensburg). I don’t know if it’s their hiring process, they way the pay, training, or all of the above… but I really have never had a bad experience there.
I’ll occasionally get a spicy chicken wherever, but Bethany said she definitely liked this one more than the one at Wendy’s, and she’s a fan of the Wendy’s ones.
I’m sure the Christian angle has a lot to do with attitudes and the annoying yet respectable “closed on Sundays” thing. I’d guess one guaranteed day off (& the same day) every week would go well for employee morale.
They just have a really solid business model, and the effort is amazing. It’s like the people there want to be there. They want you to have a good meal. It’s not just a McJob.
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I worked out a total of seven free meals for my wife and I from chic fil a this week. I have had two so far and have had very different experiences. Looking forward to number 3 this afternoon. Ill keep you posted.
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Seven free meals? Ha ha, that’s awesome. The only ones where I have had “off” service are Robinson & the Waterfront… that’s the stand-alones.
Which ones have you hit up so far?
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