Senior year of high school I applied for a job at Chick-fil-A and worked there for 2 years. It was honestly the best first job I could’ve landed.
The culture and mission of the company is incredible. Chick-fil-A is the highest ranking fast food restaurant in the country for customer satisfaction, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index Restaurant Report 2016. I met some of my best friends, ate many free meals and learned so much about quality customer service.
All in the span of one year, I worked at Chick-fil-A, owned backyard chickens and then became a vegetarian. One didn’t cause the other or really have any effect. Each had its own time and place. But just because you don’t eat meat, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy what Chick-fil-A has to offer.
Below are my picks of the best vegetarian menu items. By no means is this an exhaustive list.
As long as you ask nicely, Chick-fil-A, much like other restaurants, is more than willing to accommodate. At one point in my part-time Chick-fil-A career, I took an order for a grilled cheese sandwich. Does Chick-fil-A sell grilled cheese? Nope. But toast a bun and a slice of cheese and you’ve got a Chick-fil-A style grilled cheese.
1. Breakfast
Hasbrowns
"Delicious and crispy potato medallions cooked in canola oil." Only Chick-fil-A could describe them as medallions. But I'll second the deliciousness.Egg and cheese breakfast sandwich
"Delicious and crispy potato medallions cooked in canola oil." Only Chick-fil-A could describe them as medallions. But I'll second the deliciousness.
2. Salads
Chick-fil-A offers Cobb, Southwest and Market salads. All come with chicken, but if you ask for “salad base” then it will come without chicken - and a significantly lower cost.
They offer a large variety of dressings, and my personal fav is the Avocado Lime Ranch dressing...it's incredible.
3. Sides
Waffle fries
Why have boring, straight fries when you can have waffle fries?! P.S. Chick-fil-A Sauce > Ketchup
Fruit
Did you know Chick-fil-A was the first fast-food restaurant to serve fruit cups as a side? The cups are complete with mandarin oranges, strawberries, blueberries and apple slices.
Yogurt parfait
Greek yogurt with blueberries and strawberries and topped with granola.
"Superfood Side"
This is a new menu item: kale blend topped with dried sour cherries, nut blend and dressing
4. Drinks
You know how companies claim their lemonade is “hand squeezed”? Well, I can’t tell you if theirs is true or not, but Chick-fil-A’s lemonade definitely is.
The hands typing this post are the same hands that spent an hour in the back squeezing some 60 lemons for a batch of our lemonade. It really is just water, sugar and lemons. They now sell frosted lemonade which is basically a lemonade-flavored milkshake. Same goes for the frosted coffee. Milkshakes
Milkshake flavors include vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and cookies and cream. In the summer, the seasonal flavor is peach and in the winter, it's peppermint.
5. Dessert
I challenge you - vegetarian or not - on your next Chick-fil-A run, to order a chocolate chunk cookie. Sorry, Grandma, these might surpass the family recipe. Like they are that good.
So clearly Chick-fil-A knows more than just a chicken sandwich. They also know the way to our veggie hearts...with waffle fries.
Because a waffle fry counts as a vegetable, right?