I wouldn’t typically do a review of a fast food restaurant, but this is the home of the original 1946 Chick-fil-A. We found this establishment by accident. We had just arrived in Atlanta and had picked up our rental car, when we realized we needed to feed the kids. It is officially in Hapeville, which borders the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). This airport is the super-hub that houses Delta. We always try to find a Chick-Fil-A when we are traveling. It is the easiest way to feed our crew and they are always nice and helpful. Believe me, when you are a parent and you are traveling you crave any kind of generosity and/or kindness from a stranger.
I found the Chick-fil-A on my GPS and I hit go. I told my husband it was six miles away and at first he was hesitant. I convinced him to just head in that direction because it would be the fastest and easiest and most agreeable solution to our problem. When we drove up I noticed something was a little off. Why is there Dwarf House on the side of the building and why did it look like an old Shakey’s pizza parlor? You have to love the sixties fake wood paneling and the bright red vinyl seating from the era. It was a step into my childhood in the seventies. Nothing new came out of the seventies, except disco and yellow being used everywhere. Everything was a carry-over from the sixties. The outside is covered in red Georgia brick, a red roof and brown outlined windows.
It looks small from the front, but it has been extended in the back. It was pretty easy to find parking in the back and it is a little strange because there is no sidewalk and the parking lot just flows into the side streets. It is so nice to find easy free parking in a strange city. You have to cross through the drive-thru to enter the building, but cars are looking for pedestrians and it isn’t an issue.
The dining area has been amazingly preserved. Not a time period you would normally want to keep for prosperity, but it means something to the Chick-fil-A company. The original red vinyl has long been replaced because the cheap materials that they used back when it was originally decorated would not have lasted into the eighties let alone the next century. The fluorescent lighting is still keeping the place bright and the light fixtures are from the reinvented Spanish feeling of the sixties. Don’t forget to check out the little door up front that gave the building its name. When you walk in, you smack into a counter order experience, which is what we used. The only unfortunate think about this Chick-fil-A is that the employees are not as friendly as the employees that you encounter in other towns. They are about the courteous level that you receive in California, where they are friendly, they use the phrase “My pleasure,” but you just don’t believe the sincerity. It was super clean and that set my mind at ease.
The bathroom area has a unique feature. It has a sink outside of the restrooms. Not sure how that happened architecturally, but it was a funny little moment and I could make sure my kid with autism actually washed her hands. Yep, she tries to get away with not washing her hands. It is a time-wasting notion to her.
The food was, as you would expect at a Chick-fil-A, hot and freshly deep-fried. The fries are amazing and unique to this restaurant. I always add a little salt. I love their sandwiches with the buttered buns that are grilled on the griddle. I always take the pickles off. I’ve never enjoyed pickles because they over power the other flavors on the sandwich. My daughter loves them. I enjoy their stripes immensely, they are just so juicy and lightly battered, and there is a sauce for every taste. It is so difficult for Chick-fil-A to remove something from their menu or change an item. They had to bring back a sauce they tried to eliminate and there was an up-roar when they replaced the grapes with blueberries. I personally enjoyed the change to blueberries, but my son was upset. They are one of the best fast food restaurants in the states. Chick-fil-A is right up there with In-n-Out for flavor and service.
