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tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption
CHAIN -- Church's
Chicken Fried chicken is a fast food natural. It's cheap and relatively easy to make, it's a finger food, and everybody loves it. It's more about finding WHICH one you love than anything else. There's three major players in the fast food fried chicken world, and two of them were co-owned for quite awhile. Retired incubator salesman George Church Sr founded "Church's Fried Chicken to Go" in 1952 across from the Alamo in San Antonio. It sold nothing but chicken for the first few years before adding fries and jalapenos, then adding locations. Four were open when Church passed away in 1956. The family grew the chain from there. The first store outside of Texas opened in 1967. The family sold out in 1968. Church's and Popeye's merged in 1989. The chains moved to Atlanta in 1992. Parent AFC sold off Church's to an equity group in 2004. They had plans to double the chain's size. What chain doesn't. One of the first things Church's did upon becoming free from Popeye's was add a spicy chicken to the menu. It's spicy in a different way than Popeyes, having a flavor all its own. While I still prefer Popeye's, I'd take either any day. I prefer Church's regular chicken to Popeye's mild. Church's follows the fast food chicken formula to the letter, offering meals with sides and a biscuit. Church's biscuit is glazed in honey and butter and looks sort of like Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits, but have the aforementioned honey taste. Church's doesn't JUST compete with KFC and Popeye's, of course. Most supermarkets offer pre-cooked fried chicken. Some other fast food chains offer it. Shakey's and Pizza Ranch are every bit as known for their chicken as their pizza. It's a standard menu item of pretty much any buffet restaurant concept, not to mention truck stop convenience stores. So if you're going to specialize in it, you'd better do it well. And Church's does it about as well as anybody. Click here to return to tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption |
