Chicken Express — Restaurant in Benton

Once upon a time, this was my favorite chicken place, but times have definitely changed. I've noticed a slow decline in the quality of food and service over the past couple of years, but as of my last visit it has gotten pretty bad. The exterior lights were completely off/non-existent, leading us to question whether they were open or not (even though we were there not quite three hours before the posted closing time). The prices have jumped substantially; what used to be a roughly $40-45 meal for the family has increased to over $60 for less food (25 tenders and two large sides). The service was rushed and inattentive. They were out of numerous sauces. They left items out of our order. The packaging (which has always been haphazard) was severely lackluster now, as they packed our mashed potatoes and gravy into drink cups (which are much thinner styrofoam and, with drink lids, have straw holes at the top creating a messy situation). The okra was old (as has been the case the last few times). The chicken "tenders" varied from ball-like lumps of undercooked chicken consisting largely of under-done breading on the inside to tiny pieces of chicken roughly the size of the end of my thumb. A hefty price to pay for subpar food. Sadly, I can no longer recommend this location and advise all to stick to other franchises...

While in Texas, I happened upon a fast food place called Chicken Express. I was observing multiple signs with this particular place and I decided I wood try it out. Well,I am really glad I did. The chicken was cooked well with a crispy batter that provides a favorable taste. In addition, I choose the roll versus the biscuit, again another great choice. The biscuit was warm and tasty, I wished they would have given me more. But that's because it was so good. In any case, this fast food stop off of I-40 was worth the stop because the portions were enough for two people and the overall taste of this meal wasn't one I wanted to share, sorry. Furthermore, apparently this location is very popular with the local church going folks because they were there ordering after their morning church visit. I really was impressed with the traffic into this location considering the other fast food places within walking distance. The Chicken Express has their game on when it comes to serving great food at a...

We came in a little after 7 and the new guy at the register was so sweet and kept is updated on our order. The young lady who came to help him did so with a smile on her face.

Everything was made fresh! 😃 potatoes could have been more creamy vs clumpy and swallowed up the gravy.

My only thing bothered me was, one employee kept watching us as we ate and when we were finally done..I heard someone say, "yall don't have to leave, but yall got to get the blank out of her". I thought maybe it close to closing, but there were non customers in there talking about football and a kid on crutches. I looked at the time and it was maybe 8:30. We waited about 30 minutes for our food, which was fine because we knew it would be fresh.

But to be rushed out as if we were a nuisance...