Slim Chickens — Restaurant in Mankato

Two stars only because they just opened like a week ago and hopefully will iron out some of these issues going forward. Lets start with the good : the chicken strips were good, hot, seasoned well and juicy although on the smaller side and the lemonade was good, appropriately tart and refreshing. That's where the good ends unfortunately. The dining room was SMALL, extremely crowded, loud and a booth at the beginning of dinner rush was being taken up by employee(s), one in uniform anyways filling out paperwork. The tables and bankettes were DIRTY with no sign of anyone making the slightest attempt at wiping them down between guests while COVID is still a thing which was absolutely shocking. The food beyond the chicken strips was TERRIBLE. The fries arrived cold and grossly underseasoned with barely the slightest taste of salt and potato. The deep fried pickles were severely grease laden, cold and soggy upon arrival at the table. The sauces... where to start with the sauces? The slims sauce was absolutely bland. Maybe low quality ketchup and mayo mixed? The "garlic Sriracha" had no garlic flavor to speak of, was somehow cloyingly sweet and tasted like ketchup, corn syrup and Sriracha in the worst possible way. The "parmesan garlic" tasted like Italian salad dressing (the vinaigrette type). The "Korean BBQ" tasted like thin bbq sauce with that same gross sticky sweet Sriracha flavor found in their "garlic sriracha". The honey mustard was again way too sweet and one dimensional. My advice? Just skip the dip all together because it really ruined the flavor of the chicken which on its own was quirlte good. Male sure to hit the drive through as well, the dining room is just gross. Management made an excuse of not enough staff when confronted over not cleaning booths and tables in between customers... when we walked in and were standing in line to order there were at least 3 employees standing around behind the counter waiting to run food the entire time we were waiting to order, surely one of them could have wiped down tables? Maybe the employees taking up a booth in the dining room during dinner rush for paperwork could've instead been wiping down booths and tables? I realize they just opened, but they shouldn't have to be told to wipe down tables by their customers. Makes you wonder how well they're cleaning the rest of the restaurant?...

I can't believe my mouth! I'm sitting here during a crazy busy time, comparing this to the likes of Chick-fil-A and Cane's. • Food: Starting with the chicken, spectacular! This is a very thick, well-seasoned chicken breast that's super moist and perfectly crispy. This is where most restaurants err by failing to give the breading flavor. Slim's nails it. I went with the Cayenne chicken which was nice and spicy, but not too hot. Frankly it tastes like it's beer breaded which is just fantastic. Complimentary sauce that gives the kick, FRESH, crispy premium pickle slices, soft brioche bun, crispy friend onions. The fries are reminiscent of Five Guys. Fresh cut, natural, crispy and tender, slightly thinner. The mac n cheese is VERY cheesy! Definitely tasting three different cheeses in there. Noodles are just a tad overcooked, but it's hard to hold mac n' cheese long without getting that result. • Drink: I beelined to the lemonade and was glad of the decision. This is frozen FRESH, not concentrated shelf stable junk. Perfectly sweet, yet not cloyingly sweet like Chick-fil-A. Next I tried the peach tea. It's good, also not too sweet, fresh peach taste, not a really dark black, more a moderate strength. • Options: Almost too many, but I'm glad for the variety. Keeps it from being boring, yet not confusing. • Customer Service: Again comparing to Chick-fil-A, stellar customer service. Staff constantly coming out to the table to check on you, give refills, offering to-go boxes, and ensure satisfaction. Keep it up! • Speed: For as busy as they were, the speed was quite good based on the food prep. Took about 6 minutes to get my order. • Price: Not as much as a regular sit-down restaurant, on par with restaurants of similar design. Naturally I wish it was a bit cheaper, but the value is strong based on what I've experienced. • Final: This is my first visit and I very much look forward to future ones. Couldn't be more happy and I can't wait to try...

The chicken is delicious, and it's nice that the chicken strip meals come with fries, toast, and a drink, but they got rid of all 3 of our favorite sauces: regular bbq, Sriracha bbq, and Inferno. They may have dropped some others as well, but I'm not sure.

They didn't bother to remove them from the drive thru menu for about a month though, and the two different times we visited during that period, the staff weren't well informed on what sauces were gone, and we had to wait for them to consult a manager. We used to visit almost weekly, but I'm not sure we'll continue to do so now that one of the things that kept us coming back is gone. Without the signature sauces we loved, it's pretty much just another chicken place (though it is still our son's favorite since he doesn't care for BBQ sauce anyway).

We did go last week to see if anything had changed, and they removed the entire sauce list from the menu, so it was just a blank space. We didn't bother trying to order any then, figuring we would have to wait for a manager to list them off again.

Seems a chain that big could and should have executed these changes in a more organized way to avoid so much confusion. The poor staff seemed completely unprepared and a bit embarrassed. Corporate is most likely to blame rather than the individual locations, so I do feel bad for them. Hopefully, by the time we try to go again, they'll have a new list of current...