How Chick-fil-A Got Big by Keeping Its Menu Small | WSJ

Chick-fil-A is expanding off the strength of its simple chicken sandwich. WSJ explains how its leaner menu helps the company avoid some of the pitfalls of its competitors. Photo Illustration: Carter McCall/The Wall Street Journal

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[lilounce]

Chick fil a is always packed but the service is always better than an empty McDonalds or Burger King

[TaylorMade]

Our local Chick-fil-A restaurant always has wall-to-wall traffic in the drive-thru that wraps around the building and out into the street. Always!

[erice]

They did it by having an amazing product with amazing service

[moniquechurroburrow]

Chick-fil-A has the best customer service ever! Always super fast and their waffle fries are heaven.

[edvaira]

Here’s what the sandwiches look after we bought them...and SAT ON THEM!

[JamesRoyceDawson]

God, all those burgers look like disasters

[chemepuppie]

Where’d you get your sandwich?! My chik fil a sandwich never looks like that

[seleccionceleste]

Whenever I go to the States I always look for a Chick-Fil-A. Best chicken sandwich. PERIOD!

[cmooreHD]

I live in Canada and I’m addicted to chick-fil-a. They line up is always out the door or off the property whenever I am. Weather buffalo New York or in LA. but yet it’s faster than McDonald’s serving 5 people in line.

I truly can’t wait for it to come to Canada/Toronto !

[tornexted]

That is probably the worst looking Big Mac I've ever seen, and I've had plenty, trust me.

[Error_]

Let's be honest. The food isn't amazing just fresh and consistent. What made them successful is the service. Period. No other fast food company can compare.

[wwrussell]

That Chick-fil-a is "poised to become the third biggest U.S restaurant chain by sales trailing only McDonald's and Starbucks" is even more impressive when you recognize that their restaurants close on Sunday. Imagine where their sales would be if they were open seven days a week? Good food served by very good people.

[pixyrosejes]

The flavor is wonderful.
Tasty sandwiches are delightful.
The selection are also healthy options.

[UltimateTS]

As a Chick-fil-a employee this fascinates me and I'm really excited that we're about to start expanding internationally. Thank you to everyone who has supported us. The customers are always our number one priority, without all of you, we couldn't be as successful as we are.

[AGJ]

Their service rocks, the cheerful "my pleasure😀" gets me all the time!

[simoncao]

Wrong wrong wrong. At chick fil a, they are always attentive and smile. Even in a small town of no where, they manage to hire friendly staff and well trained. Their fries is one of a kind. No other fast food chain beats chick fil a fries

[sam_mathai]

When I legally visit America, I just know my most memorable food memory will be eating from Chick Fil A.
All my friends who eat from there say it has the best customer service and food 😊

[CrazylBeats]

They did exactly what In & Out did. Small menu & amazing customer service!

[expert]

I've never had a bun from Chick-fil-a like that. But maybe you kept it in its bag like that for 10 minutes while driving back and it got saugy.

[jerryc]

Before I quit being a general manager for Jack in The Box, we had a meeting we all had to drive to a few hours away with all the general managers and higher ups in the franchise I worked for. They showed graphs of how successful other restaurants were compared to our chain. They asked us for our opinions as to why they are more successful than us. I put in my two cents and told them that its because they rely on a simplistic menu and also did not worry so much about labor cost. I told them that once you do these two things, the changes would pay for themselves.

Needless to say, that fell upon deaf ears though many of my colleagues agreed with me. The graphs and examples were right in front of them... They had examples of successful chains but refused to adopt the same ideas. On top of not having a simple menu, the franchise owner I had was always worried about labor cost. He was so tight, it usually left me as a general manager going back and forth between drive thru and front counter to take orders and serve them, and though I was a pretty damned good multi-tasker, you can only do so much during rush hour.

Theres one addage I would love to see the failing restaurants adopt... Keep It Simple, Stupid!