Chick-fil-A — Restaurant in Gastonia

Every one who frequents this or any Chik Filet knows how popular they are and are almost always busy with a long to go drive thru line. But they have a great & unique system that no other fast food chain restaurants have. They have several employees standing in shaded covered areas taking orders, getting your name so there's no issues with getting the wrong order and you pay them as well. So no matter how busy they are, especially the last hour they're open, the line moves fairly quickly. Most Chik Filets have very small and limited parking areas and it's hard not to get blocked in a parking space from the to go window line. But this specific 1 on Cox rd in Gastonia, has a bigger and better parking area than any other I've been to in 2-3 states. Food is always fresh, orders are typically correct. They have a decent variety menu. Although I feel like other than the well known Chik Filet sandwiches, their prices are very high for what you get. Especially the chicken nuggets, omg! Really!?!😲 Why are they so expensive? Yes they're good, but they cost a lot more than they should. My husband's on disability and we have to budget our money carefully. So we always just order 2 sandwiches, and with tax we can both eat a sandwich for just under $11.00, can't beat that! We rarely eat fast food other than the sandwiches at Chik Filet. I'm extremely picky where I eat having worked in the restaurant and bar business over 30 years. Both for corporate and private owned businesses. I've been a corporate trainer for a handful or so different companies over the years. So I have to say that Chik Filet is a lot cleaner than most restaurants, fast food especially. Their condiments aren't gross and sticky, like they typically are at several other fast food restaurants, and it's disgusting when those "other" places throw the disgusting dirty packs of ketchup ect in your to go bag right on top of your french fries! 🤢 When I'm traveling and I don't have Chik Filet as a choice off the highway etc. I always worry about the cleanliness and also about getting sick. Because in the past I've had food poisoning from McDonalds twice, Burger King & Wendy's once each. Every time but once it was the ketchup that made me and others with me sick. 1 other time was McDonalds under cooked cheeseburger and I didn't even eat but a little before I realized it was not cooked enough, I was driving at the time. I could go on & on, but I think I've made my point. So I'm extremely picky for several reasons and every one should be when it comes to what you put in your mouth. So Chik Filet is ALWAYS consistently great and clean, even when busy. And I've never had to deal with any of their staff being rude or having a bad attitude, too bad I can't say that for all restaurants. Some people, including management, should not work with the public period. If you don't like working with the public, choose another profession, especially management. If the managers don't have respect or care about the customers, their staff won't care either. Lead by example, like I use to tell my coworkers and staff, "We ALL look good together and we ALL look bad together. So do your best to make the customer satisfied and you don't have to kiss their butt in the process. Just be polite and kind and if there's a problem, get the Mgr to handle it. Because I know that working with the public isn't always easy because there's always people out there that no one can please. It's how you handle the situation, you can't control them but you can control how you choose to deal with the public properly without stooping...

It literally blows my mind how quickly & efficiently Chick-fil-A's Drive-Thru now works! There's been times when my children really wanted Chick-fil-A for Lunch & there'd be so many people there that the Drive-Thru line not only wrapped completely around the building, but the line had been rerouted way out towards the outside edge of the Shopping Center's Parking Lot & back around on it's self again (Kind of like a gigantic U-Turn!). Had this been ANY OTHER Restaurant, there's NO WAY I'd even attempt to wait in such a LONG line just to get my kids done Chicken Nuggets with Chick-fil-A Sauce; As a line like that would literally take AT LEAST A FULL HOUR IF NOT MORE at any other Fast Food Place I've ever been to!!! We were in that Drive-Thru Line every bit of ten minutes (10-mins), & that's from the time we pulled behind the last car in line; Until my Kiddos had their Hot Food & I had my Half & Half Arnold Palmer (ALA: Love Joy) with Extra Ice in hand! I still don't understand WHY all the other Fast Food Restaurants with Drive-Thrus aren't trying to work out something similar to what Chick-fil-A's got going on! Of course, I'm well aware of the Employee Shortage many places have been experiencing. I don't know if it's the Higher Than Usual Starting Wage; The way all Employees are treated; All The Extra Benefits or a combination of all & more... But Chick-fil-A seems to always be fully staffed with VERY Nice, Friendly People who. Are genuinely there to serve, & to Be Happy About it!!! And it's not just a "One Time Fluke" because my Husband & I have done quite a bit of traveling over the past six months; Mostly via driving either a Company Car or our own Vehicles. We've visited Several different locations across six different states & every single location was ON-POINT!!! So to ALL Chick-fil-A Employees; From Management to the young man being trained on his very first day of Work... AMAZING JOB!!! & To Those considered "The Big Dawgs" of Chick-fil-A; Be it Corporate or Franchises... PHENOMENAL WORK!! In my personal opinion, Chick-fil-A FULLY DOMINATES The Drive Thru...

I went to Chic-fil-a today for lunch. Walked in, there was only one patron in front of me, which had already completed her order, evident due to her and the employee (Sarah, or Sandy, I believe her name was) in full on personal conversation, to the affect of the employee stating she was working on getting accredited for something. I stood behind the lady in line for a few minutes, clearly in view of the employee, who didn't acknowledge me at all but proceeded to step a few steps to her left and post up on the counter, full on elbows on the counter in deep, engaged conversation with said patron. By this time, there are 3 additional customers behind me waiting to place their orders. My coworker has seen the goings on at the counter and put his hands in the air shaking his head in disbelief as he witnessed what was happening as well. I'm assuming the employee finally noticed the line that was quickly forming behind meand ended the conversation. Once she acknowledged my existence, she was then rude on top of all of that by stating, "let me finish" after I said my order was to go when she asked if it was for here or to go. Chick-fil-a is not the best restaurant in the area. They're not even the most convenient in the area. To blatantly ignore 3 to 4 customers to have a personal side conversation and then act as if it was an inconvenience for her to assist us is downright absurd. It was to the point where another employee had to come assist at the counter where if she stopped chatting several minutes prior to the line forming she'd been able to handle it on her own. It certainly wasn't a pleasure to dine with this establishment...