Chicken Express — Restaurant in Red Oak

I used to enjoy Chicken Express but today, well today I was very disappointed. I spent almost $70 for a family tender meal, which comes with rolls/biscuits and 3 family sides. There was a little bit of a wait, which I was completely fine with because typically that means a couple things. First the food is going to be nice and hot, probably just cooked. Second, they're making sure the order is filled correctly. So I did not mind waiting. And after a little bit they handed me my order through the window. Now I literally live right down the street from this location, just past the police/fire station. So it's like a 3 minute drive. Got home and told everyone at home to come eat. As I'm taking the food out of the bag I noticed one of my sides are missing. As I continue taking the food out the boxes do not feel warm. First box I opened, mini poppers (jalapeno poppers). Cold. Not frozen cold but not hot to the touch. And typically it's served with ranch, but there was none in the box or in the sacks. Then I opened the chicken, warm at best. Definitely not hot, just barely warm. Then I opened the smaller gravy, warm and only half full. Then I opened the larger gravy, warm and full. Then I opened the mashed potatoes, hot and full. Like hot hot. Then I opened the rolls, which were warm so I was fine with that. But we had to warm up just about everything that I ordered. Again, I literally live 3 minutes away. I didn't stop anywhere along my way home. Got my order and went home to feed the family. So it didn't sit in my car for any length of time, other than 3 minutes. If that.

So we all sat down and ate after warming up most the food. Two out of my family took a few bites of the chicken tenders then threw it away and decided to go to Sonic. When I asked why they said, just try the tenders and you'll see. Then they left to go to Sonic. And wow! First off, I don't know if there was actually any chicken. Most of the tenders were more batter than chicken. The tenders that actually had "meat" were chewy. Some were very hard to pull apart by hand. And the others, mostly batter. The mashed potatoes were good. The gravy, after warming it, was good. The poppers, not so good after having to warm them. And the rolls were good.

For the most part, no one wanted the tenders. No one wanted the poppers. So we ate the mashed potatoes, rolls, and gravy. Almost $70 for really nothing. The two that went to Sonic, they spent about $25 and got burgers and fries and a drink. Steam coming of all the food. And their order was correct. The entire Chicken Express family meal I got, most was thrown out. Money thrown out.

I used to love Chicken Express but after today, maybe I'll drive further and try Golden Chick. Or drive further and go to Cane's or Popeye's. I just don't see myself returning to Chicken Express again. My family said I should call and request a refund but I didn't. Nor did I drive to take my order back to complain. I just don't trust that process, returning food and complaining about it to see if the order could be re-made. Last thing I want is someone mad at me remaking my order. I'm not saying anyone would do anything to the order, it's just not worth it to me. And if Chicken Express wants to refund my money, well that's up to them. I'm sure someone with Chicken Express will see this review and maybe reach out. But I'm not going to call or go back to the business and demand...

Worst Chicken Express I have ever been to. My husband ordered our food, the cashier did not say anything to him, just stared at him and waited for him to order. No greeting whatsoever. After he ordered our food, he had to step out for a second to grab something from the car. In the few seconds he was out, the girl who had the food tray walked out, didn't see him but looked right at me but just stood there. The cashier told the girl that my husband walked out, and the girl with the tray let out an annoyed sigh and rolled her eyes and walked back behind the counter. When my husband walked back in, the girl with the tray came back and literally thumped it on the table VERY rudely and said "here you go" and walked away. We looked at the tray and they forgot our drink and one of our sides, my husband had to go back up to the counter twice to fix this. The tenders are small and are over cooked and coated in grease, the fries might as well be cardboard, and the rolls look soaked in grease as well. I expect grease, obviously, but this is ridiculous. Never coming back. Someone retrain these kids, their attitudes and lack of decent customer service skills are shameful. You can hear the employees complaining about each other as you eat. The manager or supervisor on the clock seems like the only one trying in this place....

Every time we order Chicken Express we tell them we want our pickles extra crispy and we want our fries extra crispy several times now I have had to bring the food home and re-cook my French fries because they were almost raw. The last time my husband actually called them and told them this is ridiculous this has happened several other times and the manager did say bring the food back and they would fix it however fast food supposed to be fast food you want to get it home and eat it not have to go back and deal with it because that's the point of fast food. So he gave us his name and we did go back and get the order a few weeks later and the order was fine however there was barely any pickles in the order to feed two people and this was a $40 dinner with six rolls. And they're definitely was not enough pickles to give to six...