Chick-fil-A — Restaurant in Renton

I was disappointed with my visit at the grand opening. I was driving by when I saw that the new Chick-fil-a was open. I was pleasantly surprised to see the drive-thru line was very reasonable. So much so, I decided to turn around and go back. When I pulled in, I was only 2 cars back from the menu board, which seems to be poorly positioned by th way. The menu board is at the end of the covered/dedicated “ordering” station. And, for someone who doesn’t frequent Chick-fil-a, seeing what is available for purchase, to me, is necessary before being asked to order, right? Fortunately, due to the abundance of training going on, I was able to make it up to the menu board before I was approached. As I was reading the menu board, a trainer (and trainee) stepped into my line of sight, blocking my view of the menu board. I also feel I was poorly greeted. The first words spoken were, “Sir, will you please pull forward?” I attempted to explain that I was still trying to decide when the trainer says, “We can take your order up here.” gesturing with her arm swing that she was still urging me to move forward. I again tried to explain that I was not yet ready to move. The trainer responded by saying that she has a “menu-card” available for me to look at, but to see it would require me to pull forward. Mind you, there was only a single vehicle space open in front of me this entire time. Rather than arguing, I just pulled forward. It’s not fair to the others now behind me to wait while I try to prove a point when you are not being listened to anyway. The trainer then produced a laminated card, roughly the size of a half sheet of paper, for me to see from 6’ away. So, now I’m looking at a menu-card I can’t see to read making ordering virtually impossible. To help establish my point, I grabbed my reading glasses and put them on. I told the trainer that I still could not effectively read her “menu-card”, again making it virtually impossible for me to order. Fortunately, I was able to remember enough of the menu board to place an order. Ironically, as I continued to move through the line, I had to wait while a brief training session was taking place before I could pay. While I waited, the cars in front of me continued to move forward until there was only 1 car left ahead. After paying, I moved ahead as well, leaveing enough room for servers to access the outside lane. Once behind the last remaining vehicle, 1 of the abundant staff members turned toward me and gestured for me to again move forward, significantly narrowing the path to lane 2. This is when I became upset. With my window open, I spoke loud enough for her to hear me when I replied, “I know how to drive through a drive-thru!!!” She then stopped waiving her arm and looked away while others turned to look at me. When I was finally able to pull forward, no one said anything. I was kind of hoping that my response would have attracted the attention of at least 1 of the many managers about, giving me an opportunity to explain myself. I was handed my order by a different young lady who wished me a good night, which I graciously reciprocated and I left for home. I gave 3 stars because the food was relatively good for fast-food, especially for it’s grand opening. Only criticism regarding the food is that the french fries were a bit under done (not hot and not crispy but still quite edible). If it wasn’t clear already, my biggest issue was the treatment I received during my visit. I was not greeted (with/without a smile) for deciding to stop by and “celebrating” their grand opening with them. Instead, I was approached by someone whose primary role is to instruct others on how to perform their job, as well as how to engage with their customers and lead by example. If this is how customers are going to be treated at the grand opening, they don’t need my business moving forward. I was not treated like a customer, I was treated like a cow in a herd. Very sad first...

I don’t grade fast food chains by how good the food is or what the atmosphere is like, but by how consistent they are. We all know what we’re supposed to get when we go to a McDonald’s or a Chick-fil-A, predictability is the whole point.

What I can say about the consistency of this Chick-fil-A is how consistently they disappoint me.

I’ve been here multiple times, and there’s almost always something wrong. I can count on one hand the number of times they didn’t mess up my order. Here’s a few of the issues I’ve run into:

Undersized portions (once got what looked like a chicken tender on my sandwich instead of a full breast)

Soggy fries

Charged for two drinks, only received one

Forgotten drink altogether

Mold on the bun (yes, actual green mold)

Got a burrito instead of a bowl

Missing sauces—even when charged for them

No sauces at all, sometimes (still charged)

No utensils provided

Another thing that stands out: how rigid they are with breakfast. I pulled into the drive-thru around 10:26 AM. The person ahead of me took a while to order, and when I got to the speaker at 10:32, I was told breakfast ended at 10:30 and they wouldn’t serve it, even though I had been in line before 10:30. That kind of inflexibility, especially when it wasn’t my fault, is just frustrating.

To be fair, the staff are always polite and friendly, and I do appreciate that. That’s honestly the only reason this review isn’t one star.

If you want better consistency and a more relaxed experience, I’d recommend the Tukwila...

Went here back in April. I’m Canadian so I’ve never had Chik Fil A but I’ve heard how good it is and wanted to try it for myself when I came to Seattle for a few days. This was the worst customer experience I’ve ever had at a fast food restaurant. First of all, the manager yelled at the cashier taking our order and sent her away so he could take our order instead. Since I’ve never had Chik Fil A I wasn’t entirely sure how to properly order from their menu and the manager was very rude to us by cutting us off mid sentence and spoke condescendingly to us. When we got our food it was soggy. The chicken strips and waffle fries felt like they were sprayed with water before we got them. Meanwhile, the manager was pacing around the dining room pushing chairs around and ordering his staff to clean up every small thing. When I asked for the bathroom code I didn’t hear him the first time so I asked him to repeat it and rolled his eyes at me before telling the code to me like I’m a toddler.

I wish the food wasn’t soggy because it actually tasted quite good for what it’s worth but that restaurant needs new management.

Avoid...