Church's Texas Chicken — Restaurant in Des Moines

This place post covid, after the state has freely opened back up (7/23/21, a Friday) has lost its luster. Let's start with the lobby upon entering shall we....yes the tables are spaced out 6 feet or more, and there is room to sit, but the tables themselves are not clean, nor wiped of sticky substances and crumbs, the window sills are covered in large dead mosquitos. The children were afraid to sit near the windows, so we had to move to a lesser mosquito covered window. Next up is the restroom, upon entering there is an ungodly stench where you have to hold your breath just to wash your hands before eating. And on that note, the soap they use, you have to run dang near four gallons of water to get the soap off your hands! Geez! And there were no paper towels to dry your hands with, or to grab the door handle with to get out, I had to use the end of my shirt to grab the door handle to get out of the restroom! Not got, not good at all. Now onto the food. The chicken looks good on the outside before you bite into it before getting to the bone, then that's where you come in contact with the red stuff (on more than one piece), the drumsticks and thighs had brownish stuff under the meat (yuck!) The oil covered corn on the cob was awful when you bite into the cob, it tasted degraded and old! The only thing that tasted good was the mashed potatoes and cup of water...$30 donated to Churches (waste of hard earned money)....I felt like I was on the movie "Next Friday" at Holely Moly Do-nut shop, like craig said, "don't neva,...

These kids deserve a better boss or find a new job. I put in an order on their app at 5:00 pm for a pick-up at 5:45. I arrived at 5:45, a nice lady acknowledged me. It is obvious that the management hires skeleton crew and these kids are busting their asses off. 15 minutes later, no service because they were swamped, and a guy cut in front of me which irritated me.

Then 5 minutes later, a man who seemed to be the manager came out. At first, he just stood around doing nothing, then began yelling at the team members who were already working so hard. He then helped the guy who cut in front of me.

And then when I finally got service, he could not locate my online order. Instead of fixing the issue, he began yelling at me. Sir, after waiting patiently for 25 minutes, you do not get to raise my voice at me. After he flustered around and danced around, he rudely told his employees gave me the chicken without clarifying which parts of chicken I ordered.

To top it off, he started yelling at a kind elderly gentleman who was next in line.

These staff members are doing their best in a visibly run-down building and under terrible management. The manager's appalling behavior and complete lack of problem-solving skills make him entirely unfit for his position. I sincerely hope the crew finds better...

I must say that I prefer Churchs chicken over Popeyes.You get more for less and the chicken pieces are bigger.That being said.I go to the Churchs chicken in Des moines over on Pac hwy(This location). Now what I'm gonna describe may seem biased but it's more of a observation I have noticed lately or within the past few years and this may be due to the new kinda of people working there.But with my recent visit it seems the chicken is not getting made right anymore.Like something is off. My last meal purchase 6/9/24 was Like a chicken meal out of the deli from safeway or something.The batter was off and it looks like they Sprinkled some kind of seasoning on the chicken after it was made. It's jus not the way it used to be made. And I notice that most of the workers there nowadays are of like middle Eastern now. That may be likely why the Chicken just aint being made right and they are always getting my dam simple...