9 Takeaways from Chick-Fil-A’s Grand Opening in Clifton Park

What's everyone clucking about?

Curious to learn what the hype was all about  Brian and Chrissy from the GNA Morning Show sent out their colleague Lexi, AKA "The Chick-Fil-Lady", to the grand opening of the Chick-Fil-A in Clifton Park.

Yes, we've had Chick-Fil-A before, but yesterday was different.  The two grand openings (one in Rensselaer and one in Clifton Park) on Thursday meant huge crowds, the potential for gridlock, and long lines.

Day 1 is in the books

We wanted to know how long the lines were, how fast they moved, what the traffic flow was like, how the customer service was, and of course, how everything tasted.

Reviews of the Chick-Fil-A Grand Opening in Clifton Park

On Thursday morning, two Chick-Fil-A's opened up to the masses - one in Rensselaer and the other in CP.  Lexi, The Chick-Fil-Lady, arrived in Clifton Park just after 6 am and was one of the first twenty cars in line to get served.

Here are 10 noteworthy takeaways from things we learned during the Grand Opening on Friday morning.

• Go in the morning if you can. Chick-Fil-A opens at 6:30 am, and on Thursday morning, the GNA vehicle was about the 20th car in line, roughly 15 minutes before they opened.  Our Chick-Fil-Lady told us that once the line started moving, she was in and out of there in about 25 minutes.

• It gets much more crowded as the day goes on.  Later in the day after around 5 pm, most people waited over an hour to get their food.

• As expected, everyone was very friendly.  Our Chick-Fil-Lady said that the drive-thru workers complimented her on her tattoos.  It's the little things...

• There's plenty of signage to direct traffic. Chick-Fil-A works closely with local law enforcement to make sure that locals aren't too inconvenienced by the influx of traffic. Chick-Fil-A employees are always on hand - outside of the restaurant - to help direct cars.

• The Chic-fil-A Clifton Park Center and Chic-fil-A in Rensselaer will both feature a dual-lane drive-thru "focused on expediting and elevating the experience for guests with innovation, speed, and hospitality."

• Anticipating large crowds, Chic-fil-A has a system in place to expedite the process. Team members will greet customers in the drive-thru line in person and will take each guest’s orders on a tablet.

• While one walks the line taking orders, another will come to the customer’s car to take payment.

• This method allows vehicles to move through more quickly than they do at a traditional speaker box drive-thru.

• The food is DANG good.  Our Chick-Fil-Lady brought me and Chrissy some delicious breakfast and it didn't disappoint.  I had the fried chicken breast filet on a biscuit and it was quite tasty.  The chicken was crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside - with just enough spice. The biscuit - a touch dry - was still very buttery and flaky.  I drizzled a little bit of their honey mustard sauce on it and the sandwich went next level. 7.7 out of 10 stars