Back to getting around to alphabet series for in town runner-ups. Letter C representing 2021 was…read morein Madison, WI, and like the 2021 runner-up A is for Aldi, C is for Chick Fil-A is also in Corridor Marketplace. My last 3 of 5 reviews are in this huge shopping center as I reviewed Catherine's restaurant from my recent visit; see my Thursday, 4/9 3-star of them.
I've been living in Russett for 5.5 years and have been going to this Chick Fil-A sometimes. In fact, I went yesterday for lunch! I had a free sandwich & free brownie and bought medium waffle fries. That's one of the positives of CFA in general is the company & even this specific location will try freebies my way. I generally buy something to be nice. They will throw a free breakfast sandwich. I'll add egg (& sometimes cheese too) to the free chicken biscuit to bulk it up a bit. Very rare I've taken the time to buy a chicken biscuit; almost always get on the freebie. Generally, I'm by far the most likely to go at lunch, much less common at dinner.
In 2021 I used to go to CFA more frequently as I like the customer service & food. However, in more recent years I've shyed away from CFA due to health consideration. While the CFA sandwich is delicious, there are a lot of random ingredients, which is a bit unsettling. So, that is a consideration. It's tasty, but can be dry in the middle. I got the grilled chicken sandwich before, but it's pretty bland. I've gotten salads before, but they are kind of overpriced for what you get. If I'm getting a salad, I'm far more likely to go to the Panera here in Corridor Marketplace. I've gotten the nuggets but generally do if it's free. Unlike the grilled chicken sandwich, the grilled nuggets are decent, but still the fried nuggets are superior. Also, their new mac n' cheese is surprisingly good too.
Even when they are busy, they are efficient getting orders through both in the restaurant & the drive-thru. A bit of a negative is that CFA drive-thru causes some extra traffic on the shopping center road, but it shows it's a popular option.
I visited this location at least once prior to living in Russett. On December 31, 2019, I was at my office in Columbia and had work travel to DC that afternoon. Normally, I would never take 295 and just take 95 down to 495 to 295 into DC, but Starbucks was running a promotion for a free drink at select locations for last few days of 2019. I saw on 12/31/19, the Starbucks next door was on the list, and I was like I'll go 95 to 32 to 295 to get to DC with the stop off MD-198 to get the free Starbucks. That day I had Chick Fil-A for lunch getting the chicken sandwich & chicken noodle soup as I was recovering from a cold. Their soup isn't great but ok, I'd recommend Panera in the same center for soup.
I went to my local CFA with my girlfriend a couple of times. It's an easy and cheap option, but I'm far more likely to have CFA for lunch on my own when working from home on a weekday. The couple of times with my girlfriend were on Memorial Day Monday 2025 and another Saturday in 2025. Never on a Sunday as everyone famously knows They're Closed!...so Don't even think about going there on a Sunday, or you will be sorely disappointed. A former coworker in 2012 commented how he never gets CFA because every time he's craving CFA, it's a Sunday.
Another noteworthy time I went was in January 2023 on a 2nd date. I wanted to go cheap as she was kind of annoying on the 1st date but she seemed interested in me, and she was a nice person, and I wanted to invite her to my place for whatever picking a cheap restaurant close to my home. Ultimately, in baseball terms, it was a 2B situation, and I didn't have any heart to pursing a 3rd date after all as it wasn't going anywhere anyway.
Also, their Peppermint Shake during the holiday season is great! I try to get once a year. Their sweet tea & lemonade is solid too.
In summary, Chick Fil-A has a nice staff. The food is mostly good with their yummy chicken sandwiches, chicken biscuits, & waffle fries. Salads are good. Some items are a bit weaker but nothing is bad. Also, the mac n' cheese is pretty solid. I used to get the yogurt parfait which was good, but it was a ripoff at some point in 2020's, so I stopped. Early 2020's, I ate there more, but a big negative by 2022 was that I needed to lose weight, and Chick Fil-A is pretty unhealthy with all the random ingredients, but it's still more good than bad considering great tasting food & nice staff.