The Christian restaurant chain Chick-fil-A has been named America’s favorite fast food restaurant by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).
The ACSI’s 2015 report says that not only did Chick-fil-A debut on the list at number one, it had the highest score ever achieved in their customer experience category.
Chick-fil-A’s score of 86 out of a possible 100 was closely followed by another newcomer, Chipotle, which scored an 83 on the survey. They tied with Texas Roadhouse at 83, although Texas Roadhouse is considered a “full service” restaurant.
Chick-fil-A’s Christian roots have long been hailed by the company as the reason for his success. The company has a large statue of Jesus on the property of their corporate headquarters that greets visitors to the complex. The company has closed on Sundays from the beginning and they have printed Bible verses on cups.
The company’s mission statement says they are to “glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us.”
The survey showed Americans eat out an average of four times a week.
The nation’s largest Christian-focused retailer will likely stay open if a bid at a private auction for their assets is approved in bankruptcy court.
FC Acquisition, controlled by an Atlanta businessman who also controls the non-profit company that owns Family Christian Stores, submitted the highest bid and will pay up to $43.6 million dollars for the company’s assets.
Other bidders had planned to liquidate the company and close the stores.
The second-highest bidder plans to challenge the FC Acquisitions bid, claiming their bid was at least $15 million higher than the FC bid.
Richard Jackson, operator of FC Acquisition, explained to the Christian Post in March why he was taking this step.
“We are gonna lose millions of dollars ourselves, all we did was loan money to the parent and its out,” said Jackson to CP. “It’s gone, and we don’t get interest. So we can either quit, [file a] Chapter 7, which means all stores go out of business immediately, or [do] a reorganization called a 363 sell, which is where Family Christian Ministries forms a new entity to buy assets and it cleans out any other debts and so forth, positioning to be successful going forth.”
Family Christian Stores filed for bankruptcy in February.
A Christian burger chain that prints a Bible verse on their drink cups has been named the favorite “limited service” restaurant in America.
In-N-Out Burger is listed with other restaurants that allow customers to pay at a counter such as buffets, cafeterias and steak houses. The honor was given in the annual Consumer Picks survey in Nation’s Restaurant News.
The company prints verses on the bottom of their drink cups including Revelation 3:20, John 3:16, Matthew 6:19 and 1 Corinthians 13:13.
Rich Snyder, president of the company in the 1980s, wanted to find a way to better establish the company’s Christian beliefs in their daily business.
The survey ranks 172 restaurants in a variety of categories including food quality and cleanliness. Over 42,000 people provided responses for the survey.
In-N-Out was not the only openly Christian restaurant to do well in the survey. Chick-fil-A finished 5th in the survey of 172 chains.
As some expected in light of the death of strong Christian businessman and founder of Chick-Fil-A S. Truett Cathy, anti-Christian bigots jumped onto the internet to spew hate speech.
Most of the hate was directed toward Cathy and his strong Bible-based stances for life and running a business.
Some of the hate included statements like there was one less Bible-following Christian in the world and that it made “the world a better place.” Another said “oh good, the Chick-Fil-A [profanity deleted] is finally dead!” Several said that the “Chick-Fil-A founder is roasting in hell!”
S. Truett Cathy started in 1946 with one small restaurant selling his signature chicken sandwich. Over the next 68 years the company grew to nearly 2,000 restaurants and annual sales over $5 billion.
And it was all based on his belief in the Bible, its teachings for life and how to operate a business.
“It’s a silent witness to the Lord when people go into shopping malls and everyone is bustling, and you see Chick-Fil-A is closed,” he one told a reporter.
Tributes to Cathy included radio host Dave Ramsey, who said Cathy was “a godly man who loved his family well and showed us faith in the marketplace.”
An Arkansas pizza parlor owned by a strong Christian who offered a discount on Sundays to anyone who brought in a church bulletin has been dealing with harassment and threats for his refusal to cave to anti-Christianist demands.
Bailey’s Pizza even received a bomb threat delivered through their Facebook page.
“Better get the bomb squad out,” one of the comments read. “Stand fast and get blown up quicker,” it also read. Police are investigating the comment as a legitimate threat.
Shop owner Steven Rose said that despite the threats from the anti-Christian organization Freedom From Religion Foundation saying he was violating the Civil Rights Act by offering the discount, there’s no discrimination.
The church bulletin discount is just one of many offered to the community. The discount does not require anyone to be a part of the church whose bulletin is brought in.
Advocates for Faith and Freedom, who is representing the pizza parlor in any legal actions, says the attack of the anti-Christianists is backfiring.
“The majority of the responses to the promotion have been positive,” it stated. “Bailey’s Pizza has received enthusiastic support from the local community and around the country. Some people have come from other states to dine at Bailey’s Pizza and show their support. One Pennsylvania gentleman purchased 150 dollars’ worth of pizza each day for a week, for delivery to different organizations, such as the police and fire departments.”
A Christian owner of a pizza business is the latest believer to be targeted by the virulent anti-Christian group Freedom From Religion Foundation.
The Wisconsin-based group is threatening Steven Rose, owner of Bailey’s Pizza in Searcy, Arkansas. The business offers what he calls an “old school country atmosphere” and on Sundays offers a 10% off if you bring in a church bulletin.
The anti-Christianists claim that making such an offer violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act which states “all persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, and privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, … without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.”
The FFRF claims that they’re discriminating against people who aren’t Christians.
Rose says that the offer is just one of many other offers including discounts for police, fire departments or the Boy Scouts. Rose also says the deal does not specifically state “for Christians” but that you need a bulletin. He said that anyone can bring in a bulletin regardless of their beliefs.
The number one chicken franchise in the United States is no longer KFC.
The yearly reports of the “chicken quick service restaurant segment” show that Chick-Fil-A has surpassed KFC for total sales in the United States. Chick-Fil-A’s sales in 2013 totaled $5 billion compared to $4.22 billion for KFC.
What makes the move so remarkable to Wall Street and business leaders around the country is Chick-Fil-A’s refusal to open on Sunday because of their Christian values. Analysts say that the company loses hundreds of millions in revenue by staying closed on Sunday when competitors are still open.
The company also had a significant disadvantage in terms of stores. KFC had 4,491 stores in the U.S. last year compared to 1,775 for Chick-Fil-A. That’s also with Chick-Fil-A being based in the south and residents of the northern part of the United States not even exposed to their product.
Chick-Fil-A announced plans for 100 new restaurants in 2014 and also plans to expand to the “northern, Midwest and western states.”
CEO Dan Cathy gives all credit for the company’s success to God alone.
