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[Gander]

Whatever Chic-fil-a and Five Guys are doing with their employees they need to share their secrets.

Even if they can't be fast that day, say they are slammed with customers, they are always respectful, the store is fairly clean and they are putting forth effort.

McDonald's and Burger King are the worst. Cashiers be hanging all outside the drive thru window, don't even look at you when they hand you the food (sometimes they drop it).

Pay is low but it will not change these particular workers attitude, they need repercussions or a philosophy change. I understand the job sucks but they asked those companies for work.

 

[Zog]

I have had problems with every fast food place at one point or another. Most of the time McDonalds is fast and Burger King is slow but occasionally that is reversed. Wendy's is usually slow too. I don't have a Chic-Fil-A here but I do have a Five Guys and I wouldn't call them fast either, I place my order online and drive there (takes about 10 minutes) and the food still isn't ready.

As for friendly service, McDonalds seems the best in this area, consistently. Drive thru clerks being very cheery, even complimenting me on my silly cheeseburger shirt and often they just give stuff away. They will say 'Do you want this coke?' or something similar. I think the worst in my area is Sonic. Once they finally manage to take your order after much frustration they are usually very slow. Atleast they rarely mess up the order (after the frustration of placing it).

 

[mneuro]

I'd guess that chic-fil-a and five guys probably pay better than standard fast food places. That goes a long way.

 

[Ancient Gray]

Service varies from place to place but yeah Chic-Fil-A does have disarmingly friendly service. I almost don't like it. Not because they're nice, but because they seem to have scripted reactions.

For example, we had a policy at an old phone job where we couldn't say "no problem" or "absolutely" when someone said thanks. We'd have to say, verbatim, "My pleasure". I just couldn't do it! All of my Chic-Fil-A encounters have had the same standardized verbiage. It weirds me out when any service tries to homogenize personalities/responses in human interactions.

As a side note try bringing a puppy through the drive thru and see how it makes the service 100 times better.

 

[Dark Star]

Chicfila, Five Guys, Whataburger, In-n-out all tend to hire experienced cashier/grill team. If someone has a good resume/reference from a previous supervisor at, let's say, Mcdonalds, then they'll give that person the job. That's probably the big factor. The other is a pay/wage. Workers tend work harder and faster if they are being payed more, but the management has to be respectful and organized as well for that to work. It's a two way street, that's what makes good fast food service.

 

[Zog]

If you have worked in the food service industry then you know the saying 'if you've got time to lean then you've got time to clean'. This always seemed like motivation not to get the food out fast since I would rather be cooking than cleaning.

 

[JORMBO]

Service varies from place to place but yeah Chic-Fil-A does have disarmingly friendly service. I almost don't like it. Not because they're nice, but because they seem to have scripted reactions.

For example, we had a policy at an old phone job where we couldn't say "no problem" or "absolutely" when someone said thanks. We'd have to say, verbatim, "My pleasure". I just couldn't do it! All of my Chic-Fil-A encounters have had the same standardized verbiage. It weirds me out when any service tries to homogenize personalities/responses in human interactions.

As a side note try bringing a puppy through the drive thru and see how it makes the service 100 times better.

Agreed on the dog part! If I go to the Burger King around here they usually toss in some free nuggets when I have the dogs with me. A few other places have milk bones at the window.

 

[Doom85]

It seriously varies place from place. Some are saying Burger King is slow, the one nearest my house is the fastest I've ever seen, one time I barely had time to begin filling my soda cup when they called my name. Like, what?! If I feel like I just have to eat something already and don't want to wait, my local Burger King is a safe bet.

Chick-fil-A is pretty fast too. Five Guys though, average speed in my experience. McDonalds is average as well, sometimes they're fast, sometimes slow, but usually average speed. Same with Taco Bell. The KFC near my house is insanely slow, but the one a bit further away has good speed.

 

[It's Jeff]

Service varies from place to place but yeah Chic-Fil-A does have disarmingly friendly service. I almost don't like it. Not because they're nice, but because they seem to have scripted reactions.

For example, we had a policy at an old phone job where we couldn't say "no problem" or "absolutely" when someone said thanks. We'd have to say, verbatim, "My pleasure". I just couldn't do it! All of my Chic-Fil-A encounters have had the same standardized verbiage. It weirds me out when any service tries to homogenize personalities/responses in human interactions.

As a side note try bringing a puppy through the drive thru and see how it makes the service 100 times better.

So I'm in the field for three weeks at a time. My dog sitter also works for Chick-Fil-A. It's so bizarre when I thank her for doing a great job with my pup and she answers, "my pleasure," like it's a reflex.

She's one of the sweetest human beings I've met, so that's hardly a strike against her. It's unusual to hear it like four times in one conversation though.

 

[Tornado Condor]

Good company culture, happy employees, good service. Not to mention good food.

 

[way more]

Five Guys is as slow as going to a pizza place and ordering a burger. Five Guys are slow, inefficient, and they make subpar burgers that have unlimited toppings.

If lots of toppings is your idea of a good burger you should go there. Otherwise go to the casual restaurant next to it and get the same burger for the same price in the same amount of time but you will have to tip for table service.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

All a good burger needs is bacon meat and cheese. You want to put sause and other filth on it stick to mcdonalds imo.

 

[brap]

All a good burger needs is bacon meat and cheese. You want to put sause and other filth on it stick to mcdonalds imo.

Bacon is fucking garbage. Great way to shit up a burger.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Bacon is fucking garbage. Great way to shit up a burger.

Blocked and reported to the fbi for al qaeda promotion.

 

[44Forever]

Chic-fil-a does customer service right, that is for sure. Always a pleasure to go there! I do wish they would expand their menu with more options though.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

What? You don't like chicken, chicken or spicy chicken?

 

[Gander]

Chic-fil-a does customer service right, that is for sure. Always a pleasure to go there! I do wish they would expand their menu with more options though.

Or at least just have all day chicken biscuit

 

[manfestival]

I'd guess that chic-fil-a and five guys probably pay better than standard fast food places. That goes a long way.

My first job many moons ago was chick fil a. It paid slightly less than McDonalds and other fastfood places(still competitive though). My decision was based on the culture. So many people said great things about working there. The operators really do a fantastic job of everything and are constantly in their own stores working with their employees(which is not something that seems to happen often but I did meet a McDonalds operator once that swore to me up and down that he will be there with his crew here and there).

It is all about employee culture. Takes a lot to bring it up but most fast food places have really poor employee culture.

 

[cr0w]

Worst fast food service I've ever seen is at Carl's Jr. Shit was smack dab in the middle of the whitest suburb outside of Houston and walking in it was like I'd been magically transported to Harlem to a restaurant staffed entirely by Bon Qui Qui clones. Plus the burger came out cold.

 

[Chozo_Lord]

Chic-fil-a have extremely simple menus. That means it's incredibly easy to get orders correctly with a lot of speed. Also, I think a GM at a popular chic-fil-a can earn like 2-3 times more (so like a $150,000 salary) than a gm at a place like wendy's. I wouldn't be surprised if they paid their employees better too. My first job I worked at a fast food restuarant with a ridiculous variation in food. A large family would come in an order complex differing meals, meaning there is a higher chance for things to go wrong, and the wait times are drastically longer.

 

[Robot Carnival]

Chic-fil-a have extremely simple menus. That means it's incredibly easy to get orders correctly with a lot of speed. Also, I think a GM at a popular chic-fil-a can earn like 2-3 times more (so like a $150,000 salary) than a gm at a place like wendy's. I wouldn't be surprised if they paid their employees better too. My first job I worked at a fast food restuarant with a ridiculous variation in food. A large family would come in an order complex differing meals, meaning there is a higher chance for things to go wrong, and the wait times are drastically longer.

I think it's the same with In-'N-Out. they also have a simple menu and pay their employees better than most other fast food places. I always find In-'N-Outs to have some of the most pleasant service in the fast food restaurants I go to.

 

[WaterAstro]

When I went to LA, In-N-Out was unusually happy with the staff. They were definitely all smiles that it felt creepy.

Five Guys, however, were extremely jolly. It was entirely African Americans who were so upbeat. We had a nice chat too. I told them I was Canadian, and they were so interested about it. I decided to show them what Canadian money looks like (no like the drab American dollar), and they were super stoked and amazed about it. Good guys.

 

[Captain Zyrain]

In-n-Out is always ALWAYS ALWAYS top notch. They pay really well, and treat the employees really well. Their staff always asks me how my day is, etc. It's kinda weird if you're not used to it, but they're always cheerful and helpful, it's a breath of fresh air.

Only been to Five Guys once, so I don't remember, Chick-fil-a seems good, but I don't visit enough to really notice.

There is 1 McDonalds nearby that is franchised and they are always super nice too, almost like an In-n-Out, it's kinda weird, but nice. The rest of the ones are your normal crap service. There is a Jack N The Box nearby where the person taking orders could barely speak English.. it was very frustrating.

 

[44Forever]

My first job many moons ago was chick fil a. It paid slightly less than McDonalds and other fastfood places(still competitive though). My decision was based on the culture. So many people said great things about working there. The operators really do a fantastic job of everything and are constantly in their own stores working with their employees(which is not something that seems to happen often but I did meet a McDonalds operator once that swore to me up and down that he will be there with his crew here and there).

It is all about employee culture. Takes a lot to bring it up but most fast food places have really poor employee culture.

I believe this. It is all about employee culture. I think it is also about what people want to pay for. If people were not satisfied with the poor service at McDs and BK etc, they would not get the business and they would be forced to improve. The fact that the big guys are thriving says a lot about American culture to me.