Why Chick-fil-A Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be

Gabby Williams, Reporter

On May 23, 1946, the fast-food restaurant Chick-fil-A was first founded in Hapeville, GA. Since then, Chick-fil-A has risen to the top of the fast-food competition and is considered one of the best of these chain restaurants. When you think more about it, though, is all the fame and praise Chick-fil-A gets really deserved?

One big thing that’s disappointing with Chick-fil-A is its use of peanut oil. Even though there are a few other fast-food restaurants that cook with peanut oil, Chick-fil-A is one of the only ones that uses this oil to cook their main dishes.

The only way to get around the peanut oil is to order grilled chicken, and we can all admit that it’s not nearly as good as the breaded chicken. With this substance being used, people with peanut allergies aren’t able to eat at Chick-fil-A. Talk about inclusive, am I right?

To add on, as you go to the Nutrition & Allergens page of Chick-fil-A’s website, they state, “Chick-fil-A cooks 100% refined peanut oil. According to the FDA, highly refined oils, such as highly refined soybean and peanut oil, are not considered major food allergens and therefore are not identified on this list.”

Even if the peanut oil they use isn’t considered to be a major allergy concern, they should still have it listed down on what products contain it for those who could potentially be more sensitive to the product or want to know what products to still avoid just to be on the safe side.

Now, the chicken; that’s all they serve. Chicken sandwiches, chicken biscuits, chicken nuggets and tenders, chicken wraps, chicken salads, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. While “Chick” may be in the name, for a fast-food restaurant, they don’t really provide a good variety of options.

On the other hand, when you look at fast-food restaurants like Burger King they still seem to offer not only burgers but even chicken as well, along with many other choices despite their name. Don’t let the name cover-up for their repetitive food choices.

The menu, on most fast-food restaurants, are changed all the time to keep it interesting. A little beef or maybe even pork here and there for Chick-fil-A wouldn’t hurt. Why not let the chickens stand up for themselves for once? A limited time menu change where the chickens and cows band together to go against the pigs sounds like an amazing brand idea for bringing in new customers. Plus, it’d bring some nice change and would result in some pretty good sales.

It’d be a crime to ignore the most upsetting part of them all when it comes to Chick-fil-A. The fact that you can’t even get it on Sundays! For such a highly rated fast-food restaurant, you’d expect for them to be open on all days of the week. Worst of all, people seem to crave Chick-fil-A the most on the only day that they’re actually closed.

“Sunday is like your go out to eat day. After church, you go out to eat with your family and Chick-fil-A not being open just ruins the whole mood,” said freshman Nick Gaumer.

The origin behind Chick-fil-A closing on Sundays comes from the founder wanting to give the employees a day to rest and worship if they wish to, but with that Chick-fil-A could simply open at a later time and maybe even close earlier at that.

One estimate stated that, “Although McDonald’s does not disclose traffic by day, there is evidence that the weekends are particularly busy, which means that it may post 15% of its sales on Sunday. If Chick-fil-A has a similar traffic pattern, Sundays could bring in sales of at least $1.2 billion.”

While it may be nice to give employees the day off to rest and worship, it definitely loses them a lot of sales and puts a lot of people in bad moods in return.

While Chick-fil-A is deemed as the go-to spot when going out for food, it’s undeniable how overrated it is. Not only is it overrated, but if you’re allergic to peanuts, not in the mood for chicken, or it’s a Sunday, Chick-fil-A will be the biggest letdown.

Chick-fil-A has many characteristics that can sway people away compared to tons of other fast-food restaurants, yet it’s so highly rated and talked about. Maybe there’s just something in the chicken.