I'm not a restaurant person, precisely, but I was the database architect for Corporate at one of the national chains for a few years. It wasn't one of the chicken chains, but one difference at "Bigot Chicken" stands out.

The difference is that "Bigot Chicken" owns its restaurants where this typically is not the case at competing chains.

The percentage of stores owned by Corporate varies from chain to chain. "Bigot Chicken" seems to own 100% of its stores or close to that number.

"Bigot Chicken" therefore retains more control over operations. This leads, in theory, to improved service.

I haven't eaten yet at the chain in question, myself, but it's true that "Bigot Chicken" has held the top rank in one key customer survey for over a decade.

It's important to remember, though, that staff at competing chains is often inexperienced or surly or there are oddities due to a franchise owner's mental state.

In short, it doesn't take much to beat a KFC or a Pioneer or Popeyes Chicken. No offense is intended to franchise owners. But, seriously, I'll never forget my experiences at some of these stores. I don't mean that in a positive way.

Surly staff. Dry chicken. "Complete Meals" for $18 that don't include soft drinks. "You can add sugar water worth 50 cents to your Complete Meal for only another $3.00 !"

Napkins or a tiny pat of fake butter to put on a dry and hard biscuit are treated as valuable resources that are worth their weight in gold.

One needs to get the attention of a cashier before one can get access to such wealth. Good luck with that as they're probably off at the drive-through window.

At some of the chains, staff insists that you use a kiosk to enter your order. The kiosk may then time-out. If you try to get a cashier's attention to point out the problem, be prepared to wait 10 to 15 minutes just to do that.

And, in a unique experience that I had once, at one KFC, the owner had instructed staff to focus solely on issues related to restroom access.

I mean, I walked into a #KFC and, literally before I could order, a group of employees started to talk about urination. In unison. It was like a SNL sketch. The details are a story for another time. But I don't think that I've gone near a KFC since.

The take-away is that most chains have relatively little control over how franchisees run their stores. "Bigot Chicken", on the other hand, is able to maintain such control.

So, it's possible that the high customer satisfaction ranking has been earned. However, remember that this is relative. Again, it doesn't take much to beat KFC or Popeyes.

It should be noted, as well, that Fast Food Chicken isn't one of the essentials of a life well lived.

I'd say that it's better, regardless of the chain or the views of its owners, to pick up pieces of higher quality at far lower prices from grocery stores.

I mean, WTH, if you're a CostCo customer or have a friend who is, you can get an entire chicken there, and a large and juicy one, for 10% to 13% of the cost of the same amount of chicken at a Fast Food chain.

Present cost of a CostCo chicken: $5 plus tax
Present cost of same chicken at KFC: $40 plus tax
Present cost of same chicken at Chick-fil-A: $54 plus tax

The CostCo chicken is juicy, gluten-free, delicious, and huge. It lasts for days. The KFC version strikes me as tiny and dry. Additionally, KFC staff might come up to you and talk about issues related to urination.

Pioneer and Popeyes offer more portion than KFC does, but I don't find the quality of their chicken to be much more enjoyable.

El Pollo Loco is the chicken chain I encountered where they wanted to charge $3.00 to add a soft drink to a "Complete Meal" that was already $18.00. I walked out and so I don't know if the chicken would have been delightful.

I can't speak about the quality of Chick-fil-A chicken from personal experience. However, it's obviously not a bargain. You could pay triple the price of a CostCo chicken and still come out far ahead of the Chick-fil-A price.

As a closing point:

"Bigot Chicken" has decreased its funding for anti-LGBTQ+ groups. In a humorous note, that step has led MAGA types and Red Staters, in theory the heart of the company's support, to jeer the company and to refer to it as "woke".

In short, it's much the same as what happened with Disney a few years ago. The country is pretty much in a Civil War. A company that doesn't want to be relegated to only Red States or to only Blue States needs to make sure that there is no sign of leaning to one color or the other.

The cluck is out of the chicken for Chick-Fil-A on that. I don't see a way for the company to meet the expectations of both sides presently.

Illustration: CostCo chicken at 10% to 13% of the cost of Fast Food chicken.