PrintSerious Sandwiches: Chick-Fil-A's Chick-n-Minis
When it comes to tiny sandwiches, my devotion is huge. I love tea sandwiches in all forms. I'm totally in favor of the slider trend that's been rolling across the country the last couple of years. Heck, I even started a burger blog pretty much as an excuse to talk about White Castle and its awesome sliders.
So when I saw the Chick-n-Minis at Chick-Fil-A while visiting my parents last week in suburban Kansas City, I was all over them.
It's a crime that they're served only at breakfast. I rolled up at the drive-thru around 4 p.m. set to order Chick-Fil-A's original sandwich when my eye caught these on the menuboard. They looked like the second coming of KFC's Chicken Littles (remember those?). I was all set to see if I'd discovered a suitable replacement for those long-gone and much-missed sandwiches but was denied. No problem. I just made sure not to sleep in the next day so I could be up and at 'em before 10 a.m.
When I finally got my hands on them, they didn't live up to my taste-memory of Chicken Littles, but they were still damn good. You could hardly call them mini filets, since they're more nugget sized, but they pack a hot, sweet, buttery jab, sandwiched on tangy tiny yeast rolls and brushed as they are with a honey-butter spread.
They come in configurations of three or four, and I'd recommend the latter if you're not getting them as part of the breakfast combo meal (which comes with a coffee and bite-sized hash browns that look more like stunted tater tots).
Sadly, we don't have a Chick-Fil-A in New York City, unless you count the secret one inside an NYU food court, so I'm either going to have to impersonate a student to grab more Chick-Fil-A or resign myself to eating this breakfast once a year at holiday time.
Chick-Fil-A
Address: Various locations nationwide; find one near you here
Website: chick-fil-a.com
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27 Comments:
Ok confession time. I have never had Chick-Fil-A or White Castle.
I have had sliders at a number of places but never at a chain restaurant.
I need to get out more.
JerzeeTomato at 1:14PM on 01/02/08
I used to love Chicken Littles and was sad when KFC let them go. They were especially good dipped in barbecue sauce. We're just getting our first Chick-fil-A here in Tucson, but it won't be close enough to hit for breakfast. :(
jmoilanen at 1:17PM on 01/02/08
I have never tried their chicken minis but I live for a chicken biscuit from there with strawberry jelli! Throw in a orange juice and I would have to quit my diet that I started today!
malpal at 1:22PM on 01/02/08
Jerz: Well, you might not like White Castle if you're coming to it as an adult. So far, 3/4 the adults I've made try White Castle do not want. Chick-Fil-A, though, is pretty good. It's juicy, crisp, and I've never had a cold one. As configured, it could use some condiments, but that's up to you. It just comes as a chicken filet on a bun with some pickles on it.
jmoilanen: Try to be one of the first 100 people in line at the opening. You'll get free food for a year.
Adam Kuban at 1:27PM on 01/02/08
I never have the chance to make it to breakfast-as its out of my way- have been wanting to try these for a while! Thanks for the review!
side note: Chick fil-A isn't open on Sundays-the day I always seem to want to eat there...so unfair!
bisbee at 1:28PM on 01/02/08
Love White Castle and love Chik fil-A. I am no where near a White Castle but there are a lot a Chik-Fil-As here. There is one Krystal but it is 30 miles away.
I wish there was a restaurant that only served roll size sandwiches. I have often thought about if it would be feasible. There would be a large catering business to help support it.
eatorama at 1:53PM on 01/02/08
i love these! i work as a lawyer in houston, and when vendors really want to get on our good side, they bring us a tray of these for breakfast. there is a mad dash to the kitchen when the email hits that they are in there.
carriebwc at 2:14PM on 01/02/08
at college in Virginia i used to put away Chik fil-A on a daily basis. the key was to stack the fillet with a few of those crazy good waffle fries and drench the whole thing in that vaguely sweet and sour orange colored sauce. mmm!
happy 08 adam.
blognut at 3:15PM on 01/02/08
I love chick-fil-a. My new thing now is order a couple of their strips and have it with white rice. And of course if it is breakfast time , I'll have their chicken minis.
Veron at 3:23PM on 01/02/08
The minis are great, and the Chick-fil-a chicken biscuit is pretty awesome also. It is their standard chicken fillet on a buttermilk biscuit. Hands down they have the best fast food breakfasts.
DwayneW at 3:25PM on 01/02/08
Love Chick Fil A. Big S Truett Cathy fan. But their morning biscuits leave something to be desired. The ones I usually get are too dry, asked for butter once and was told that they are "already buttered". That may be, but they sure as heck need more and I don't care for jelly on my biscuits (unless its Mayhaw and CFA isn't near southern enough for that).
relapse at 3:31PM on 01/02/08
in my office (the partners attended UVA), chick-fil-a is often used interchangeably with 'awesome' or 'swank' or most any other favorable adjective.
j at 3:32PM on 01/02/08
Chick Fil A is great but it is nothing like White Castle. I'm a Krystal's guy myself (Gainesville), toward exam time I would live on nothing but Krystal for days at a time. Breakfast Krystal, lunch Krystal, dinner more Krystal.
They are across the street from the library.
redfish at 4:20PM on 01/02/08
curious. y'all know that the chick fil-a founder is a religious wing nut right? he will fire a gay dude in a heart beat, and is open in his hatred for other religions. maybe you should stop eating his stuff. please.
bafflednyc at 4:57PM on 01/02/08
Ooh, Chicken Littles. I used to eat two for lunch practically every day as a high school freshman (ok, that dates me). I didn't actually love them because they were too mayonnaisey, but they were so cheap and still-tasty that I didn't mind wiping off the excess condiment.
There are Chick-Fil-A locations in NJ mall food courts (Paramus, Edison) reachable from NYC. I really want to try this sandwich, but have trouble getting up early enough for fast food breakfasts. Maybe waking up earlier to eat fast food could be a resolution for 2008.
Krista at 5:00PM on 01/02/08
@blognut: Thanks for the New Year's wishes. Back atcha.
@relapse: Yeah. I found the regular breakfast biscuit sandwich to be a bit dry. That's why I preferred the minis.
@bafflednyc: AGH! Noo! I was vaguely aware of some religious bent, but I thought it was of the In-N-Out fairly innocuous variety. I'll have to do more research on Chick-fil-A's employment and firing practices. Thanks for pointing that out.
Adam Kuban at 6:35PM on 01/02/08
i'm pretty sure that they put something in the breading that starts to cause cravings - particularly on sundays, when they're not open. hateful.
i love the minis because the bun is the sweeter yeast roll and not a biscuit that is, sadly, never made with as much love as the chicken is.
i will also go on record as saying the chik fil a milkshake is the best I have ever had - anywhere.
runningwithtweezers at 8:31PM on 01/02/08
Curious indeed, bafflednyc. Curious that I, a liberal Jewish woman, frequently interacted with the Cathy family (I dated a guy who was one of Truett Cathy's Sunday school students and family friends) and never found them to be anything but kind, generous, and accepting. Curious that EVERYONE I've known who has worked at Chick-fil-a--gay or straight, male or female, Christian or not--has reported only positive things about the company and its treatment of employees. Curious that Chick-fil-a was tireless in its support of charitable organizations (not just religious ones, either) in the various communities in which I lived. And most of all, curious that you would sling juvenile insults and accusations when the poster and commenters were merely talking about how tasty the chicken is. If you want to inform readers about FACTS, go right ahead--but leave the cheap shots at the door.
bettyjoan at 8:59AM on 01/03/08
betty. i am not slinging mud. it is a known fact that chick fil a is open about firing gay employees. that employees are required to church. that the company and its founder is a HUGE supporter of Focus on the Family (you know that really sweet org that is anti homo, anti choice, anti immigrant). and did we discuss mr. cathy's covenant marriage concept?
i honestly don't think you can have a discussion about food anymore without noting the facts surrounding it. it is juvenile indeed to think that we can spend 3000 words in an essay on the impact of organic spinach but we cannot discuss an organization that supports homophobia, anti-divorce, pro-life, etc...
betty if you want to eat their chik fil a's...go ahead, i just want people to be informed.
bafflednyc at 9:29AM on 01/03/08
I appreciate the fact that food isn't just food anymore, and that people care about the social issues surrounding the culinary world. However, if you truly want people to be informed, don't say that "the chick fil-a founder is a religious wing nut" (your exact words, and certainly not factual in nature) and give people proof that is based on documented evidence. You say that "employees are required to [go to] church"--where did you get this information? I knew many people who worked at Chick-fil-a, and they did not have this requirement. You say that "chick fil a is open about firing gay employees"--where are the lawsuits? If they are, in fact, open about this policy, where can I find it written or stated? I know that the Cathy family is very conservative and religious, and I'm not disputing that fact or saying that everyone should agree with their beliefs (for the record, I don't). My point: we should certainly engage in discussions about the important issues surrounding food, but we should strive to do so intelligently and responsibly (rather than with vague contentions and scare tactics).
bettyjoan at 9:47AM on 01/03/08
betty. i would be happy to post all the links to the mr. cathy's remarks (including his latest and widely circulated remarks that he prefers to hire married people only) ... check out forbes. i will post them to an outside server and alert you so as not to bore the whole seriouseats.com community.
and for the record, a lot of southern states do not have protection for gay employees...i lived in alabama and georgia and you can fire a gay person at will. and trust me when i tell you that a friend of mine lost all of her shifts at chick fil a for refusing to pray.
these are not scare tactics. i just think, like you, informed eating is important. it gets my goat that we have sit ins over foie gras and free range, but not larger social food issues.
bafflednyc at 10:17AM on 01/03/08
My friend Slide used to have a saying to the effect that, "two things will kill a good party; Clocks and cards."
It's been my observation that two things can kill a good discussion board; Politics and Religion.
There are plenty of forums devoted to these specific topics, should you be inclined to discuss them. On a food forum how about "To each their own." and just leave it at that?
srhcb at 10:20AM on 01/03/08
Adam, you should seriously be entering this right now: http://chick-fil-a.vitrue.com/index.html
Nobody is really sweating the Chick-n-Minis. YET. And the prize is 40 months of combo meals for freeeeee!
Erin Zimmer at 11:01AM on 01/03/08
we love us some chick-fil-a. too bad we crave them most when they are closed (sundays).... chick-fil-a and cookout (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cook_Out_%28restaurant%29&oldid=181137241) are some serious eats...
samedog at 11:10AM on 01/03/08
Oh how I miss the chicken littles. A few years ago, my friend was still able to get them at a KFC in her hometown in Indiana. She would get a bunch and bring them back to Philly for us. I guess they soon realized that they were like 15 years behind on not serving them and stopped. The mini's are a decent substitute though I always crave them on Sundays when chick-fil-a is closed. Sigh.
jessward at 11:24AM on 01/03/08
bafflednyc: my little brother has worked at Chik-Fil-A for several years now (down South) and they could care less whether they go to church or not. I called him up and asked him if he there were any gay employees and he said that there have been a handful working there over the years and no one really cares about their sexual orientation. No one has ever been fired for being gay and no one shoves religion down anyone's throat.
They are closed on Sundays so employees may attend Church IF THEY WISH and they play Christian music over the speakers and use Veggie Tales toys in the kids meals, but that is hardly over the top.
It sounds like you have something personal against them and that's pretty sad.
Chik-Fil-A is HUGE where I live and I adore their food (and their cleaning practices......they clean more than any other establishment I have ever seen...that place is SPOTLESS) and they have absolutely delicious nuggets and waffle fries. I love the little mini's too!
elderberry44 at 1:37PM on 01/03/08
wow. everyone is a bit stirred up. didn't mean to cause a train wreck. i lived in the south and i have many friends that worked at chick fil a and yes, there was a mandatory prayer period at the birmingham locations and yes the owner donated to Focus on the Family to keep Same Sex Partners from receiving equal state benefits and yes a Muslim man sued the company for being fired for his beliefs and yes the franchise owners are screened to make sure you are married and christian. so, i don't have a big problem with them..i just won't eat there (like Cracker Barrel or Dominos).
i just believe food journalism that fawns over where a chicken came from or whether or not a piece of lettuce was attended to properly should also keep in mind other social issues. that's all.
bafflednyc at 4:12PM on 01/03/08