We will actually drive half an hour to go to another if the need strikes us, but considering that McDonald's is neither all that healthy nor cheap (Remember the "Change on your $2" campaign, anyone?), we've moved to other alternatives, including home cooking.

As for complaining - after 5 years of bad experiences and multiple call to McD home office, we came to the conclusion that they simply no longer care about QoS. Or quality, in general.

@madanthony: come across the bridge to PA, they are all over the place and they have amazing drive thrus

@rpm773: Yeah, but they all end up looking and tasting about the same anyway.

@TCama:

@FrugalFreak:

Truett-has an open "all gays will be fired policy"

Truett-gives millions to "Focus on the Family" a known Nazi organization.

Truett-forces his religion on his helpless employees.

Truett-closes even his airport locations on Sunday which is fucking retarded.

Truett-does not have any of my money.

JesusFreak-FAIL

yeah! this is by far my favorite fast food place. The peach milkshake is the best non-alcoholic drink I have ever tasted. Sooo good. I wish they were open on Sunday's though...

@AcceleratedDragon:
"One small complaint, I used to get their soft serve ice cream cones. I'm usually an ice cream snob, "soft serve isn't real ice cream". But it used to be truly CREAMY. But around September of 08, they must of changed the recipe, because now it tastes like the frozen sweetened ice milk you get at McDonalds."

If you have any SONIC Drive-Ins near you, try their ice cream. To us, it's the creamiest of the soft-serve fast-food variety, so far.

just kidding, i'm sorry for your loss.

but on the bright side, i bet your state is less bankrupt than mine. :D

/Come on, someone had to make the joke.

//On a serious note, count me as very disappointed to hear about that stance, too.

Yeah - I mean, I like the food, and it's a good restaurant experience either going in or driving through - but donate to FOTF, Operation Rescue or having supported Prop 8 and you've lost my business.

Cathy has the courage of his convictions to do what he feels he must, and in turn I've gotta do likewise.

[en.wikipedia.org]

Support a cult, buy Chick-fil-A.

Happened to me in Plano, Texas, just outside of Dallas. That was the last time I ate there. It was disturbing.

Corporations that give to gay-hating and pro-violence groups will never get my money.

[westernfrontonline.net]

Eating there would be like buying from business owned by a known KKK member.

I get that the founder is religious to an extreme degree, but I'm thinking that must be a regional thing. I've moved a number of times in the last decade, but I've never come across a Chick-fil-a that tries to bless me as I drive away.

And if you're going to commit suicide by food, at least clog your arteries with something of quality, like home made fettucini alfredo.

It is just a shame that they use peanut oil for everything since my wife has a peanut allergy; it means I can only go to Chick-Fil-A on the days when she is not with me. :(

I know exactly what mean. With some of the other fast food places, *especially* McDonald's, it seems like the employee simply does not want to be there and takes it out on the customer every chance they get.

Don't say always...they've never screwed up my order once!

/in fact, we should just get rid of those parts of the country: [www.urinalgum.com]

@MarcosMaximus:
The problem is that they don't. Sorry, but the one thing I'm intolerant of is intolerence. As a Christian, I know an intolerant right wing fundie when I see one!

The Wendy's, Taco Bells, etc. study the weak points in their service and find ways to improve, because a second or two here or there really ads up. I'm convinced that Hardees doesn't do this kind of examination. They just do whatever, and don't realized that there's lots of room for improvement.

However, I have to say Hardees food is pretty good. Their burgers are generally worth the wait. I'm from Pa., and there's not many of them there (seems like most are on the Turnpike), but I live in the south now, and they're as common as Wendy's here.

Still, I'll take Five Guys over any of them.

I knew Truett Cathy would be one of those.... that's why I never, ever looked into him.

I don't think I could stand to stop going to Chick-fil-a. It's too good. And now I live close to one.

Damn you, now I'm going to be pretty much perma-guilt tripped D:

Rarely do I go to Chick-fil-A, but they've never messed up my order (waffle fries!).

Been thinking a lot today.

The one by me takes forever in the drive through. The food is good quality for fast food though.

@plasticbiker:
I know some people who actually are franchisees of Chik-Fil-A. So they are not strictly corporate-owned.

@diasdiem:
Portillo's was already doing that back in the day....

@GitEmSteveDave_@Gmail.comNeedsAWaveInvite:
Just as I disagree with Kanye, I disagree with the opinion that Sonic is good. Their food is awful, but the fountain/ice cream is pretty good.

@AlexTNOA:

Portillo's has great food, great service, never messes up my special orders....completely full of awesomeness. Miss it since moving to KC, as there are no dog/beef joints here. But we do have Chik-Fil-A, and that is very yummy as well...and always giving out free coupons, which is +1!!!!

Chick-Fil-A is owned and run by a loon. Stopped going there a long time ago. Don't want to support thier religious or politcal views.

The Sonic Drive-Thru in Apple Valley, Ca is about 30 to 40 mins just for them to take your order. Seems they want you to park. No I am not making this up. I have A/V of this. When you try to to talk to someone about it. They tell you well if you would have park your order would be out to you in under 5 mins (True). Now I just park, order, and leave. Takes less time then going thought the Drive-Thru.

because people in the drive-thru don't take up a table, don't need to be cleaned up after, and take their trash with them?

I think most of the ones in the NJ area are in mall food courts. I had never seen a freestanding Chick-fil-a until I moved to Maryland.

well, all Taco Bell items are some combination of the same basic 10 ingredients, except sometimes they add a different sauce. Or bacon.

@osiris73: Exactly. Chick-fil-a has been known to give money to radical anti abortion groups. That was enough for them not to get a dime from me.

Even as a non-Christian, I can admire the former. Carter's chicken in the South is run by a similar groups.

Now, if I found out a place was run by a Scientologist- I would stop going there.

Nobody beats Chick-Fil-A lemonade, not even your kid's lemonade stand. Lemons, water, real sugar, ice. That's it, and free refills all you can drink.

Their steakburgers are very good too, but you have to go to a Dwarf House Chick-Fil-A to get one. It's a shame they have this Chicken-only reputation because they do very well with beef. I guess it does not fit their image.

Their prototype Pizza, Hot dog and burger joint "Upscale Pizza" is not yet very good. Too much of the pizza comes out of a can or spice shaker. BUT they have the CFA lemonade and those nifty tablet order things, and the cutest staff in the history of QSR. Wow. I know that's a sad comment but what's an old man to say but wow.

@Lemony-Fresh: I'd starve before giving them my business!

I'm willing to drive a bit further to go to a Chick-Fil-A or a Costco because of the way they run their business.

It's your job to think up new Taco Bell menu items, and your life's work is sunk by a 17 year-old kid and a bad drive-thru speaker. How depressing is that?

And Mr. Jim's is owned by a Scientologist. Definitely stopped ordering their pizzas after I read about that...on their pizza box of all places.

Oh my gosh yes! You have not tasted chicken until you eat at Cane's. Even the fries are the best. That's like the number one thing I miss about Baton Rouge next to the beignets.

Who is the wacko now?
truett-has mega money
truett-has values thats not strictly self-serving.
truett-knows that truett is a man and knows what he is talking about.

osiris73-FAIL

@rpm773: Taco Bell has TOO many options. They always screw up your order. ALWAYS.

(Oh yeah. I went there.)

Horseshit.

Chick-fil-A's corporate mission, as stated on a plaque at company headquarters (and by Cathy), is to "glorify God." It is the only national fast-food chain that closes on Sunday so operators can go to church and spend time with their families; franchisees who don't go along with the rule risk having their contracts terminated. Company meetings and retreats include prayers, and the company encourages franchisees to market their restaurants through church groups.

[members.forbes.com]

@StanTheManDean:
Stan, that's why you are The Man :)

@AlexTNOA:We've been utilizing the Port's drive-thru in Downers' since it was built (and rebuilt once) circa 1982 or so, and while what you say is true about the quality of the food- and their inherent efficiency running the lines- over the decades they have made more order mistakes than any similar service, by far.

Best drive-thru burgers and fries in Chicagoland, hands down, though.

Man I was driving through Columbus in May, wish I'd have known there was a Cane's nearby.

Order the "Thundering Herd"

@radleyas:

They don't tell me to have a blessed day.

I always respond to such comments:

My the devil have mercy on your soul.

When the get offended, I remind them that their religion says to "have a blessed day" while my religion requires me to respond with "may the devil have mercy on your soul" and since freedom of religion is supported in this country then you can not get offended by my comment.

Menu board Appearance

Anybody check the spread of the scoring? Decimal point differences between some ranking points.

BS.

It's not just that they cook in peanut oil, but that they also make sure to segregate the chicken fryers from the potato fryers.

I came into this thread for that very reason. I've never seen anything like a Portillo's drive thru.

@winshape:

Our chick-Fil-A is pretty good. About 1 in 5 times they mess up my order by putting pickles on my order when i ask for it.

McDonalds is ok, not the best. Cook Out is ok, only went there 2 times. Burger King I havent been to (the one in the mall less then 3,000 feet away is ok-ish..

Taco Bell/KFC is ok, drive through is pretty good.... Our sonic STINKS. They get the order wrong alot, and it is normal for me to wait 20+ minutes in the drive through.

The Orange, Ca location on Tustin Ave, which is incidentally next door to an In-N-Out has the most polite and through fast food crew I've ever seen.

The floor manager guy acts like a full-fledged waiter/matre'd going around the dining area asking people if their food is up to par and offering to bring them sauces and stuff.

He also apologize to you for every 30 seconds you have to wait for your meal.

Fast is good, but I'd wait however long it took for an In-N-Out double double and fries.

Only once in 10 years did they mess up my drive-thru order, leaving out the fries. When I called to tell them, they apologized profusely, sent a coupon for two burgers and two fries, and followed up a week or so later to be sure that I wasn't angry.

I'm hip. They used to be in every mall in the St. Louis area, at least a dozen. Now there is only one. It is weird because they are so popular. Haven't had one of their sandwiches in two or three years. I have never seen a free standing Chick-Fil-A, so have not experienced their drive through. My loss?

@oldtaku:

We don't have those in Chicagoland. That is a yuppy CA thing.

And your boycott is fine with me. That's one less person I have to stand behind in line. There are plenty of secular places for you to eat.

I think the Domino's Catholic nut sold Domino's. Now, he's busy building some loony town in Florida.

I'm tired of walking into a restaurant of coffee shop and seeing 3 or 4 people with headsets on tripping over themselves to service drive through customers while there's usually only one person to run the whole front counter. and even that person has a head set on as well.

An interesting facts about their business, they Don't franchise. Every store is owned by corporate and they are very strict about quality and customer service, they even dictate the building design and layout.

@MinorAnnoyance: Chick-Fil-A is wide spread through the south and south west. They are slowly making it up north.

CfA generally has exceptional service -- I've heard people complain online that they think encouraging employees to answer "Thank you" with "my pleasure" when the customer in question is in fact being a decent human being is demeaning, but I really appreciate it -- and is owned by Christian conservatives who actually walk the walk (donate heavily to charity, close the business on Sundays, support politics I _really_ disagree with such as Prop 8... can't have everything, I guess).

That said -- I eat at Chick Fil-A much more often than either Popeye's or Church's; the chicken burritos on their breakfast menu are fabulous.

That should be a criterion. Everybody else gets 7/7 on that. Chick-Fil-A? Only 6/7.

Nah, I'm just being mean. I've never been to a Chick-Fil-A drive-through. But their restaurant in general is awesome.

Chick-Fil-a rocks, plain and simple. It's the only fast food that I allow myself to eat.

My vote for the hardest working drive-thru crew is Taco Bell. They have many items, all with the same crap but in different proportions. It's tough to know what to do if the customer wants a cheesy beefy melt, or a beefy nacho burrito club, or an oozy gooey bacon wrap, or a melty cheesy melty wrap n crunch.

Chick-fil-A is the best chicken place period!