Holy Cow — It’s time to break out your cow suit and leave your wallet out to pasture. On Friday, July 11, the Chick-fil-A chain will celebrate its annual Cow Appreciation Day event by offering a free meal to any customer who isn’t “too chicken” to visit any of the chain’s nearly 1,400 participating restaurants fully dressed as a cow.

Customers fully dressed as a cow will be rewarded with a free Chick-fil-A Meal, which includes an entree of choice, a side item and a Dr Pepper (or another beverage of choice). And for those who are a little timid to wear spots from head to toe, Chick-fil-A will award a complimentary entree to customers partially dressed in cow attire, such as a cow-spotted scarf, purse, hat or other accessory.

The July 11 event marks Chick-fil-A’s fourth annual Cow Appreciation Day celebration. Last year’s event — and the resulting turnout — confirmed that Chick-fil-A has a strong following of customers willing to go to great lengths to show their appreciation for cows. Thousands of customers visited Chick-fil-A restaurants across the country dressed in cow-themed costumes, ranging from simple cow-spotted t-shirts to full cow suits complete with furry ears, cow bells and homemade sandwich boards with personalized renditions of Chick-fil-A’s “Eat Mor Chikin” Cow messages.

Source: CFA. Visit Chick-fil-A.com to find a location near you.

Chick-Fil-A has just announced a list of new menu additions and updates to current products, and I think fans of the chain are going to be excited. Something that caught my eye immediately was the major size increase to their Chick-n-Strips. I’ve eaten the current CFA strips many times, and I feel they are acceptably sized and there’s plenty of tender meaty goodness already, so this new BIGGER version is a terrific surprise for me personally. All I can say is get the dipping sauce ready. Speaking of sauce, they are introducing a new Smokey Mustard flavor to compliment the strips.

Press releases can be tedious to sort thru, especially the large ones, so I’ve taken the information and created an easy to follow post for FFC readers.

New Salad — Chick-fil-A is adding a new choice to its line of entrée salads, a Chargrilled Chicken and Fruit Salad served with Harvest Nut Granola Topping and a complementary Berry Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing.

Salad Packaging Upgrade — All 4 entrée salads will now be served in a larger, deeper salad bowl that is easier to eat out of and easily transported. Chick-fil-A will continue to intentionally cluster salad ingredients and offer individually packaged toppings (e.g. sunflower seeds, croutons, dressings, etc.), so ingredients and toppings can be easily removed or avoided for nutritional and/or taste preferences.

Chicken Salad Sandwich Makeover — While the recipe and flavor profile of the Chick-fil-A Chicken Salad will not change, the sandwich will now be served on a premium Wheatberry bread with Green Leaf lettuce. Starting at $6.05, the chain is now offering the Chicken Salad Sandwich as a Chick-fil-A Meal for the first time. The sandwich is priced individually at $3.65, and will be packaged in a clear clamshell rather than a foil bag, resembling packaging more typical of a high-end deli than a fast-food restaurant.

Cool Wraps Upgrade — Chick-fil-A will begin serving its three Cool Wrap offerings in a new, higher-quality multigrain flatbread recipe with Green Leaf lettuce. Previously served in a foil wrapper, Chick-fil-A Cool Wraps will now be served in a new clamshell packaging, much like the Chicken Salad Sandwich.

New BIGGER Chick-n-Strips — Perhaps the most significant change to the Chick-fil-A menu will be the introduction of a new Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Strips product that is 50 percent larger than the chain’s current strip offering (45 gram tender versus 30 grams). The Chick-n-Strips, which are served as part of the Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Strip Salad, will be added to the menu on May 19 along with Chick-fil-A’s cold entrée improvements, but the chain will not aggressively promote the new Chick-n-Strips as an entrée until August. Chick-n-Strips will be offered as a 3- or 4-count entrée for adults and in 1- and 2-counts for Chick-fil-A Kid’s Meals.

New Dipping Sauce — To complement the new Chick-n-Strips, Chick-fil-A has developed a new proprietary dipping sauce, a smokey mustard recipe inspired by a veteran Chick-fil-A restaurant franchisee in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

New Side Options — Chick-fil-A is giving customers a choice of side options as part of its Chick-fil-A Meals. Five additional side item choices will be available for customers to substitute for Chick-fil-A Waffle Potato Fries. A small Cole Slaw or Carrot and Raisin Salad can be substituted for free, or customers can choose a small bowl of Chicken Soup, medium Fruit Cup or Side Salad for nominal upcharge.

NOTE: These new products launch nationwide Today, May 19th.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past couple weeks, you’ve probably seen and heard the advertisements for McDonald’s new “Southern Style” chicken sandwich and biscuit. You might have even tried it already. And if you’re a fan of Chick-Fil-A, you are probably thinking that Ronald McDonald found a way to infiltrate the CFA headquarters and sneak away with the secret recipe, because the new sandwich from McDonald’s is so similar it could be the long-lost brother of the legenday Chick-Fil-A sandwich. How did this happen? What does CFA think about it? That’s what I wanted to know, so during my recent conversation with CFA’s Corporate PR man, Mark Baldwin, I gathered up enough courage to ask him.

FFC: Let’s get right to it — McDonald’s copied Chick-Fil-A. I know it. You know it. McDonald’s knows it. Everybody knows it. — How does that make you feel?

CFA: We are flattered that McDonald’s is enamored enough with our products to be willing to clearly imitate our original Chick-fil-A Sandwich and Biscuit. Based on the reactions we’ve seen from customers thus far, they are making good choices and realize the superiority of Chick-fil-A’s products and people.

FFC: Have you tried their new sandwich? What did you think about it?

CFA: Yes, we all have tried the Southern Style chicken biscuit and sandwich and, to be honest, they did a good job copying our products. It will probably do well on Sundays (when Chick-fil-A restaurants are closed)!

FFC: It seems McDonald’s was very thorough when replicating the CFA sandwich.

CFA: There are, however, some key differences in the two products. Since Truett Cathy created the first chicken sandwich in the early 1960’s, Chick-fil-A has been preparing each sandwich fresh daily at the restaurant. We hand bread our chicken sandwich and breakfast filets in the store, while our competitors have frozen, pre-breaded chicken shipped to their restaurants. We even make our biscuits from scratch every morning.

FFC: They seem to have done a good job in duplicating the seasoning and flavor. Did they hire a team of food spies to steal the secret recipe? Maybe they tied up and kidnapped Truett Cathy (CEO) and forced him to spill the beans? (laughing)

CFA: No, they didn’t tie Truett up to get the recipe, but two of their Atlanta franchisees finally realized the impact Chick-fil-A was making, and convinced their corporate folks to try a chicken sandwich. You might be interested in this article that explains McDonald’s entry into the chicken sandwich market.

FFC: Very interesting stuff. Mark, I want to thank you and Chick-Fil-A for being gracious enough to visit with me today. I realize the circumstances are a bit unusual. In closing, is their anything new and exciting coming up for CFA?

CFA: We will be releasing some pretty significant news ourselves next week — basically, 180 degrees different from the Chicken Sandwich and Biscuit hype. You may want to fast over the weekend, because there will be plenty to try!

My thanks again to Mark for the candid converstaion.

I love Chick-Fil-A, and I’ve been eating at McDonald’s since I was a kid. It’s an odd feeling for me, to see one copy the other. They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. So considering that McDonald’s is the #1 fast-food chain in the world, and they are copying somebody else, this would seem to confirm my belief that Chick-Fil-A is, and has been for many years, the best chicken sandwich in fast-food.

How do I think the new offering from McDonald’s compares? I’ve tried it once, and it was a very good sandwich. I’m going to have it again soon, and bring some friends along with me. I will follow-up with my review, plus the opinions from my guests.

After eating my delicious Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich and waffle fries, I found myself craving something sweet. I know they serve some great shakes but I was in the mood for a different dessert, like chocolate cake or cookies. It appeared I was out of luck.

Then I remembered – they have a Fudge Nut Brownie on the menu at Chick-Fil-A.

So I spent the extra $1.10 and grabbed one as I left. The drive home is short, but it was difficult because the little see-thru container was sitting next to me, with the brownie inside looking back asking to be eaten. I wanted to wait until getting home so I could capture some review photos. It’s hard to get a good close-up shot inside the car.

Taking the sharp corner by my house I heard the little container go sliding out of the seat and onto to floor, followed by a couple books and cd’s. I assumed my brownie was smashed, but it was just fine. At this moment I truly appreciated the hard-ish shell plastic container that protected my dessert. It would have been crushed, or at least rolling around bare on the dusty floorboard had it come in a paper bag or wrapping.

As I took my brownie out of the plastic package a walnut fell off the top, and I quickly grabbed it and popped it into my mouth with tasty nutty satisfaction. They used big chunks of whole walnuts instead of ‘crushed’ bits. The brownie is small to normal size (as brownies go) but it has some pretty hefty nuts on top. They tasted great, much better than lower grade walnuts you find on pre-packaged treats at the supermarket.

The fudge icing was thick and wonderfully sweet without being too overpowering, and the brownie was soft and moist inside. Despite being small, it was heavy and dense, more so than something like a Little Debbie snack. It gave me the feeling it was made by hand, as opposed to being mass produced by the millions in a factory. It wasn’t quite home-made quality, but it was better than I expected, and only cost a buck.

The Fudge Nut Brownie from Chick-Fil-A ended up being a pleasant surprise. It was large enough and rich enough to satisfy my sweet chocolate craving, but small and cheap enough that it didn’t hurt my wallet or waistline. The walnuts are excellent.

Price: $1.10 / Website: Chick-fil-A.com

Fast Food Critic Score: B

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Nutrition Facts - Chick-Fil-A, Fudge Nut Brownie.

Calories - 330
Calories from Fat - 140
Total Fat - 15 grams
Carbs - 45 grams
Saturated Fat - 3.5 grams
Trans Fat - 2.5 grams
Cholesterol - 20 milligrams
Sodium - 210 milligrams

Chicken — Bread — Pickle.

So simple. So basic. Yet so brilliantly executed in quality and taste, three ingredients combine to make what is arguably the best Chicken Sandwich in the Fast Food World. I’m talking about the classic chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A.

How can a sandwich that looks so plain, be so special? It’s all about the chicken my friends. I’m talking about chicken that’s so moist and tender, seasoned so perfectly, your mouth will water and you’ll slap your knee proclaiming… “Damn, that’s good chicken!” …I’m talking about chicken that’s so tasty and delicious, you won’t care that your team is losing the big game, as long as there’s another bite left to enjoy.

In case you can’t tell — I love this sandwich. Though, I suppose it would be more accurate to say I love this chicken, that happens to have a bun and pickles attached. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fine bun. The perfect size and density to compliment the chicken, without swallowing it up. Lightly buttered, freshly baked and fluffy.

The dill pickle chips taste good, about like any other good pickle, but the surprise is the delightful contrast of flavor they provide to the chicken. I had never eaten pickles on chicken before Chick-Fil-A, and for a long time I would actually remove them. The truth is I’m not a big pickle fan. I don’t dislike them, but they are not something I desire on my burgers or sandwiches. But one day, after years of picking-off the pickles, I found myself so hungry that I ripped into my chick-fil-a sandwich without thinking, and then it hit me! They actually tasted good. The rest is history, and now I eat the pickles.

The main attraction is the wonderful chicken breast filet, a big meaty natural hunk of REAL chicken. Starting with choice cuts, each one is breaded by hand and seasoned using CFA’s secret recipe. They are pressure cooked in refined peanut oil, which not only makes them taste good, it makes them healthier. The bread and pickle serve as perfect compliments to highlight and showcase this great piece of meat. It’s been the same delicious high quality experience all these years, from way back when I was kid, to the sandwich I’ve just finished eating for this review. The Chick-Fil-A simply tastes better, and more natural than most other chicken sandwiches on the market.

The breading on Chick-Fil-A’s is not very crisp or crunchy, nor was it designed to be. It’s soft, light and seems to fuse itself to the breast meat and become-one with the chicken. It’s all part of what makes the Chick-Fil-A so tender and juicy. If you’re the type person who only likes crunchy coated chicken you might be disappointed to hear that, but don’t despair. I think most crunchy lovers will be pleasantly surprised.

The Classic Chicken Sandwich from Chick-Fil-A is simple, pure and scrumptious. This is a shining example of less-is-more. There’s no cheese and no bacon strips. No lettuce or tomato. It’s not very exciting to look at. It’s actually rather plain and dull. But this is not about being fancy, the number of ingredients, or a spicy new sauce. This is about high-quality simple food, prepared and served with care. It’s something that Chick-Fil-A does better than most, and they’ve been doing it for a long time.

Price: $2.69 / Website: Chick-fil-A.com

Fast Food Critic Score: A+

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Nutrition Facts - Chick-Fil-A, Classic Chicken Sandwich.

Calories - 410
Calories from Fat - 150
Total Fat - 16 grams
Carbs - 38 grams
Saturated Fat - 3.5 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 60 milligrams
Sodium - 1300 milligrams

On today’s fast food menu - Waffle Potato Fries from Chick-Fil-A.

What’s a waffle fry? Thick slices of whole potato, with the peel left on, cut into a criss-cross pattern, with little holes in between the rows. The end result are fries that look similar to waffles, hence the name. The unique shapes and varied sizes makes eating a real adventure. You get thin ones, thick ones, big ones, small ones and even a few oddly shaped bits and pieces left-over at the bottom of the package. It’s more exciting than plain, flat, skinny fries that all look the same.

They smell and taste fantastic. In fact, they might have the strongest aroma of natural potatoes, and most ‘pure’ potato taste of any leading fries. If you like real potatoes, you are going to like these waffle fries. The thinner ones are more crispy, while the thick slices have a softer potato center. They’re covered with brown and bumpy ridges, and the holes help provide even-cooking thru-out. The really big ones can sometimes get a little limp and chewy, but it’s not a serious enough problem to be a turn-off.

They come lightly salted, and some people might find it ‘too’ light, but hey — it’s much easier to add more salt, than to take it away. I figure too light is better than too heavy. Personally I like them seasoned just the way they are. Sometimes I even give-in to the immediate temptation, and eat them before I get a chance to open the ketchup.

It’s worth noting these waffle fries are cooked in 100% refined peanut oil. They contain zero grams of trans fat, and no cholestoral. My medium order was 350 calories, with less than half (150) coming from fat. They are also low in sodium.

The Waffle Potato Fries from Chick-Fila-A are excellent. They have a natural and pure potato flavor. They also have enough different shapes, sizes and textures to keep your mouth entertained, and they are just downright delicious. Get some!

Price: $1.45 (medium) / Website: Chick-fil-A.com

Fast Food Critic Score: A

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Nutrition Facts - Waffle Potato Fries from Chick-Fil-A, Medium Size.

Calories - 350
Calories from Fat - 150
Total Fat - 17 grams
Carbs - 46 grams
Saturated Fat - 4 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 0 milligrams
Sodium - 150 milligrams