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The size decrease of fast-food over the last 5 years.
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this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2026
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I don’t get Chick-fil-A.
It’s as expensive as takeout from a real restaurant, for a sandwich with plain dry bread.
The chicken is… fine. Consistent, other than shrinking over the years. Tomato and lettuce are fresh; that’s the highest praise I have.
Shakes are runny. But fine.
Yet people queue like it’s Disney World. Why?
I just don’t get it. Why wouldn’t I go to, like, Raising Cane’s or Chicken Express or Steak and Shake for a better sandwich for less? Or some other place (or my own homemade sandwich) for something actually healthy?
I've only been to Chic-Fil-A a few times. When I went, they always said something like "have a blessed day," giving me cult vibes.
Yeah they're super jesus-y. They had the whole thing back in 2012 where they fired people for being lgbtq+, their owners fund a number of Christian political organizations, and they aren't open Sundays. Not sure if they franchise or are all corporate, but I think they might even have rules that franchises can't be open Sundays. There was another story where they claimed religious discrimination after an airport denied them retail rentals due to them being closed Sundays.
There's like 3 places within a half mile of my Chick-fil-a I can go to and get a REAL chicken sandwich for the same or less cost.
Real as in slab of chicken and it has that grill taste to it.
And I'm not giving my money to an anti-LGBTQ organization.
Whenever I've been in a Chic-fil-a I feel like I'm at some church social event. And there's cars wrapping around the building and jamming up traffic out into the street. It's some cult shit.
That’s why I buy fried chicken from Popeyes and bonchon South Korean fried chicken
religious zealotry mostly. it's a shitty chicken sandwich who's only redeeming quality is the pickle.
The chicken is not fine. It's soggy and rubbery.
And it's a triangle now. I seem to remember that it used to be a real piece of chicken, but not any more.
Also on a moral ground, the CEO is extremely anti-lgbtq and still every lgbtq person i know is addicted for some reason (mainly G's, some L's and a T)
My twin use to go to chickfila during the dress like a cow thing to get a free meal. My twin is gay. I think they felt it was taking food for free? They haven't done it in awhile, so guess not even free they're worth it anymore. I never went, I prefer Popeyes.
Why would you go to Disney world?
I would pay the kind of money that people pay to go to Disney to not have to go to Disney.
Me neither. I heard the hype so I went, I love me a good chicken sandwich. It was fine. But I don't think I've gone again. Might if I was hungry and it was nearby. But it always has a line up the door and was packed. These people must see something that I don't in it.
You were with me until the latter part. People aren't hitting up a sit down restaurant when they want fast food because they want to get in and get out without having to leave their car.
I have a Chick Fil A literally a 2 minute walk from me. I go often because of convenience. I don't have to wait in a long line in my car and because it's one of the few fast food joints that offers healthier alternatives like grilled chicken nuggets, salads, fruit, sides of kale, etc. It's not a common occurrence to have options like that at a fast food place. The Chick Fil A and Taco Bell are right next to each other, but I end up going to the Chick Fil A 9 times out of 10 over Taco Bell because of this.
I agree that it's not worth going out of your way over. But it does have some big perks over other fast food joints.
My brother actually likes it there because they are one of the few fast food places that still have a play place for kids.
Edit: Huh, weird. I was trying to respond to the dude who said you should get a better sandwich from a bar instead.
Play place for kids. Odd name for bacteria breeding pool
Lol well you aren't wrong!
Most Taco Bell items are surprisingly healthy/balanced too though. Like, other than some of the crazier novelty items, pretty much everything on the menu is just protein and veggies wrapped in a tortilla. The bean and rice burrito has some of the best macros of any fast food item, and as a bonus, it's still relatively cheap, especially compared to Chik fil a.
I mean, the vast majority of menu items are carbs, cheese, and protein. There's really hardly veggies in there at all. A nominal amount of shredded lettuce is really nothing compared to fruit and a salad.
As a diabetic I have to watch what I eat but I still enjoy fried shit on occasion but I can't do rice at all. God I miss rice. I honestly don't know why there are no fast food places that offer diabetic friendly meals.
Nobody offers the low carb high fiber tortillas. Or low carb high fiber bread. Grilled veggies like zucchini and onions with sausage. Even snack places. There are some good low sugar deserts that could be made and ready to sell.
I swear if it's not carbs its fats and sodium. One of these will do me in. I've never understood healthy fat vs non healthy and can't identify it on labels plus cholesterol
My main mid afternoon snacks when I'm hungry is either beef jerky which is expensive as fuck so I really limit that. Peanuts or cheese. Cheese isn't usually filling though.
I've been diagnosed for about 5 years sometimes I do fine. But winter is when I crave carbs the most. I don't check my sugars often and I've never really looked into correct diet. Because I also have a family to feed and making shit just for my self seems to triple the budget
Man I'm sorry to hear. You're already diabetic so I mean carbs are out...but I mean I feel like fats and sodium aren't going to be as much of a worry until you also have high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Altho once you do then you're fucked I guess. Can't enjoy anything anymore. I've heard of salt substitutes, but I don't know much about them.
I agree with all this.
But it’s expensive. And slow, because it’s so busy.
That changes everything for me. If I’m going to pay a ton for a chicken sandwich and wait for it, that kills the convenience, and I am going to be quite a bit more critical.
My theory is it’s “the best” and a consistent default choice in areas that don’t have good fast food chains.
It’s better lunch than McDonald’s.
…But it doesn’t explain why it’s still so popular in my areas. There are clearly better places to go.
I work in one and I wanna say its the default for many religious people because of how the company associates its self
This. The hatred infused into every bite is addictive to most bigots and zealots.
Every Chick-fil-a I have ever been to was exceptionally clean and staffed entirely by white teenagers, typically girls. They also have a simple menu and good advertising. I can’t put my finger on it, but something about “clean” stores staffed by young white girls appeals to Chick-fil-a’s demographics. White southern religious people love Chick-fil-a.
A weird thing I've noticed about Freddy's is that whenever a new store opens (they've done a lot of expansion recently in my area) the staff is all white teenagers, mostly girls. And then within a few months it's entirely staffed by black people. I wonder if they have a roving crew of white people to open new stores with and get the mostly-white locals accustomed to eating there.
That… explains a lot.
I figured that’s a component, but it must be bigger than I realize.
I had heard so much about it that when I visited the US years ago I really wanted to make sure I tried it. I was rather disappointed to say the least, as you say, it was fine... nothing special, just fine.
The first one I've had recently that has really wowed me was Popeye's opening in the UK, holy crap that was amazing. Huge bit of chicken, perfectly cooked, so juicy inside and so crispy on the outside. The proper amount of sauce, it even looked like the pictures... I crave that experience again...
Probably gonna have american's rolling eyes at me waxing lyrical about Popeye's but I've had it before in America and it was really good, but not superlative like the UK one.
Do I think theres something magical about it here? No. My theory is that it is because its new here, expectations and standards are really, really high, they need to establish themselves as worth going to over KFC or the local bossman chicken shops but I have no doubt that the standards and quality will start to drop, corners get cut as more franchises open and it will be back to 'fine'.
Oh man.
Popeyes is middle tier in the (US) south. It’s dirt cheap and overly salty, but spiced well. I like their shrimp and po-boys.
I’m not rolling my eyes though. Popeyes is good. But real fried chicken is a religious experience in comparison.
Popeyes is great where I live. Popeyes or Publix, I don't even bother making fried chicken and I make 90% of what we eat from ingredients, including bread. Fried chicken benefits from standardization - Popeyes and Publix are huge and can get chicken pieces that always weigh the same, can keep the oil at a specific temp, I can't do that.
I like both better than the "real" fried chicken I can do at home. Popeyes has the edge IF the spicy is available. What I am mad about is the discontinued onion rings they were amazing.
I absolutely hated popeyes until the chicken sandwich released. If i go its the only thing i enjoy getting and is crazy how good it ended up being when everything else was meh. I do agree popeyes is mid tier at best because having 1 good item doesnt mean the place is now great, unless your raising canes lol.
Popeye's is Canadian owned, and it seems to always be great whenever I go there. As we know, the US has lower standards for food quality than we do in the Commonwealth, so maybe it really is just higher quality in the UK.
Weird I have heard of KFC being very lauded in the UK. It always confused me as an American because it always seemed very mid to me. I was wondering if you guys had way better quality KFC than us or something. Now I'm wondering the same for Popeyes.
Overseas KFC is supposedly better than US KFC, conspicuously so.
And Popeyes is actually pretty regional, anyway. Even within the US, I was shocked to find some locations don’t serve shrimp, when that’s the whole reason we went to Popeyes when I was a kid.
I laughed my ass off when Popeye's adopted their "Louisiana Fast" slogan. I used to live in Louisiana and there is absolutely no such fucking thing. Their fried chicken is decent, though.
KFC is bang average in the UK. Popeyes (UK) blows it out of the water.
I don't get it either. You can either pay $12 for a sandwich that's continuing to shrink and taste funny, or hit up a bar that suddenly has the best chicken sandwich you have ever eaten.
I don't get the lines either, but I do think I enjoy it more than you do. Ill have it maybe a few times a year and im always satisfied with what i get, but the price is rough. I enjoy the grilled chicken sandwich with pepperjack and bacon. I will then throw a bunch of the chick fil a sauce on top since your right it is very plain. I almost wonder if they leave it plain just so you can do this yourself. Its a decent sandwich with all of that. We just got our first raising canes by us and i agree the chicken is way better, but i cant do the sandwich just the strips since its literally the same thing with less chicken for a little more money.
Never heard of chicken express before. I had steak and shake like 20 years ago when i was in the south and remember it being good as well. Wish i had that as an option.
I do think the popeyes chicken sandwich is still really good for a fast food sandwich. Its huge, tender, and the mayo somehow adds a lot of flavor. They also have deals sometimes which helps. Shake shack chicken sandwich was by far my favorite, but its so small its kind of insulting for the price asked. Its got some dill mayo spread on it thats really good, i wont even order the burger from them anymore. Again it seems like i go a lot but this is only my experience over the years lol, i get one maybe once every 3 to 4 months from some place.
Compared to chicken from other fast food restaurants, it’s top of the line. I don’t even like it but it’s so much better than ilk like McD’s, burger thing, windys
Lol no it's not. I honestly prefer McDonald's mcchicken over chick fila. Popeyes spicy is the goat for fast food.
Only been to chick fil a 4 times I've never understood the hype and honestly don't think it's good. Pretty bland in fact
This is local to the Philly/NYC area, but Asad's Hot Chicken is really fucking good. I expect them to expand considerably in the next few years ... and then turn to complete shit a few years after that.
fucks sake find a better line.
This is not my fast food environment at all, though.
I guess chains are just kinda regional. But I might go to Chick-fil-A if those three were the only alternatives.