This week's temptation isn't about a chicken sandwich, or a grand opening of a chain restaurant you never thought you would see in the city where you live, though they star heavily in the program.
The temptation centers on where the money goes that you spend on food. One of the underscored advantages to eating local is that local farmers get the money to then spend on local businesses. Not that free trade isn't good, but should Chile get my money for strawberries in January?
But this temptation doesn't involve international intrigue, but politics, religion and a chicken sandwich.
As we profiled earlier, Chick-fil-A doesn't go well with gay, or at least that is the impression among a significant portion of people who care about the subject. We believe in equality for all, and we believe in a chicken sandwich.
My experience with Chick-fil-A before yesterday has been childhood trips in the South, a business trip to Atlanta in 1995, and a sandwich last fall on campus at George Washington University on the way to the Pentagon.
Going on Grand Opening day is great and awful all on the same day. Guaranteed to be treated well but the food may not be up to snuff. So while you can't judge based on the initial impression, here we go.
I literally got my food before my change: a bad sign but a little understandable given the huge crowd there for dinner. My selection was the classic chicken sandwich with pickle slices, waffle fries, and cole slaw.
The chicken sandwich is so simplistic; they tell us it's hand-breaded. There are no fancy sauces on the sandwich and if you think it's odd to have pickle slices on the bottom, you're right but it works.
The waffle fries were not good, something you get when everyone is in a rush. But you discover that with the cole slaw, you might not need the fries. And if you go the meal route with a drink, you can sub cole slaw and other similar eating options for fries. I am a cole slaw snob, seriously. I like very few cole slaws and this was one of the best I ever had. Not 1970s KFC, but closer than you ever would have thought you would see outside the Colonel.
There is a Southern flair with sweet and unsweetened teas as side-by-side options. And there are plenty of sauces on the side, including Polynesian, buttermilk ranch, buffalo, BBQ sauce, and a Chick-fil-A sauce that appears to be BBQ sauce combined with mustard. The BBQ/mustard thing can work, but not this. All the sauces have high-fructose corn syrup except for the buffalo option.
There is side-by-side seating so you can meet your neighbors. There were two young women from Indianapolis who knew the chain down there. The guy next to me was there with his wife: this was his 3rd meal there that day and his wife's 1st. Another couple had never been there in their lives, and he ordered a salad. She got the spicy chicken sandwich.
They serve breakfast, and the chicken biscuit looks worth doing, intriguing because fast food breakfasts are something I rarely if ever do. Breakfast is only served during breakfast, but lunch is available in the morning, something I would have killed for 10 years ago.
The chain, for religious reasons, is not open Sunday, and that won't change in a "heathen" city such as Chicago.
Protests only work if the product you are boycotting have value, a temptation if you will. The food is tempting enough, depending on your taste. If you are a vegetarian, and can live without the cole slaw, there isn't a whole lot to tempt you.
It's a heck of a lot better than Domino's Pizza, the long-time target of protests from the left. And you still have to decide whether you think a protest is worthwhile based on its corporate stand with gay people.
pictures taken by me
A chicken sandwich is my top pick and my choice was the examplary chicken sandwich with pickle cuts, waffle fries, and cole slaw.
Posted by: free pok | September 19, 2011 at 11:54 AM
This is my first article to read here and im very happy to find another person who appreciates 1970s KFC cole slaw. That's awesome. I thought it was just me. Chick-fil-A was my first ever job and CFA slaw was the only substitute I had for the 70s staple from KFC.
Posted by: Bert | December 14, 2011 at 08:16 PM