Thursday, Nov 14, 2024

Chick-fil-A sells wings through a spinoff restaurant called Little Blue Menu. I tried them and liked them a lot better than CFA's signature chicken sandwich.


side-by-side images of Insider reporter Alex Bitter standing outside the Little Blue Menu in College Park, Maryland, and a close-up of chicken wings at Little Blue Menu.
Little Blue Menu is Chick-fil-A's attempt to break into two new menu items: chicken wings and burgers.
  • Chick-fil-A opened the first physical location of Little Blue Menu, a new restaurant, in Maryland.
  • Little Blue Menu serves many Chick-fil-A items, as well as chicken wings and burgers.
  • I visited the restaurant to see if the chicken wings were any good.

Chick-fil-A attracts crowds for its fried chicken sandwiches. But the company is trying to prove that it can do other things well through a new restaurant.

The company opened its first permanent location of Little Blue Menu in College Park, Maryland, this September. The restaurant sits just down the street from the University of Maryland — and thousands of hungry college students.

Little Blue Menu serves up two things you won't find at standard Chick-fil-A restaurants: Chicken wings and burgers. You can also order regular Chick-fil-A menu items, including a fried chicken sandwich.

The restaurant chain has been trying to get into chicken wings over the last couple of years. Little Blue Menu started serving food in Nashville and Atlanta through ghost kitchens, which prepare food for delivery or pick-up but don't have dining rooms. Both of those operations appear to have ended.

Chick-fil-A also trademarked the name "Outfox Wings" in 2021.

To find out if Chick-fil-A's wings are any good, I went to Little Blue Menu in College Park.

I arrived at Little Blue Menu just after noon on a Tuesday.

Insider reporter Alex Bitter stands outside of a Little Blue Menu location in College Park, Maryland
Little Blue Menu's College Park restaurant is situated near the University of Maryland campus.

There was a steady stream of diners stopping by for lunch as well as gig workers for apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash picking up orders.

Right away, it was clear that Little Blue Menu is leaning into delivery and pick-up orders.

A sign at Little Blue Menu directs diners and delivery drivers to separate windows depending on whether they want to place an order, pick one up that they placed via a mobile app, or pick up an order as a delivery driver for a third-party service like DoorDash.
A sign in front of Little Blue Menu directs visitors to one of three areas depending on whether they're ordering, picking up an online order, or delivering food through a third-party app.

There isn't a traditional indoor dining room like there is at most Chick-fil-A restaurants. Visitors are guided to different points at Little Blue Menu depending on the purpose of their visit.

There was a dedicated pick-up point for gig workers grabbing orders for third-party delivery apps.

A door at Little Blue Menu, outside of which delivery divers for Grubhub, Uber Eats, and DoorDash can wait for orders.
Gig workers for apps like DoorDash have to ring a bell to pick up orders.

Independent contractors for Uber Eats, DoorDash, and GrubHub have to pick up orders by ringing a bell outside this door.

There was also a separate pick-up point for customers who had ordered from Little Blue Menu via app or online.

A separate door for pick-up orders placed through Chick-fil-A's mobile app at the Little Blue Menu location in College Park, Maryland.
This pick-up point for online and app orders was the only indoor area that customers are allowed in at Little Blue Menu.

I must have looked confused as I walked around to the different pick-up points, since an employee came out of this one and directed me toward the line to place orders.

Eventually, I made my way to this line, where walk-up customers could place orders.

A sign says "Walk-up orders" and points customers toward a line where a Little Blue Menu employee stands with a tablet taking a customer's order as he looks at a poster with the restaurant's menu. In the background, signage on a door reads: "Little Blue Menu team members only."
If you don't order online or through a delivery service, you can still get food at Little Blue Menu through this outdoor line.

There weren't any traditional cash registers, just an employee with a tablet and a poster with the menu printed on it.

The menu included the standard Chick-fil-A offerings, including the chain's chicken sandwich.

Part of the menu at Little Blue Menu, featuring items you'd find at a normal Chick-fil-A restaurant.
The menu at Little Blue Menu was extensive, with both Chick-fil-A staples and new items.

You can find the chicken sandwich, nuggets, and other items from Chick-fil-A here.

Lower down, I found what I was looking for: Little Blue Menu's selection of chicken wings.

The menu at Little Blue Menu includes chicken wings in flavors such as traditional, roasted with herbs and garlic, as well as smoked.
Chicken wings and burgers are both prompted prominently at Little Blue Menu.

You can order wings in flavors such as traditional, roasted with herbs and garlic, as well as smoked. You can also opt for boneless wings in a traditional coating.

While I waited for my order, I noticed this Little Blue Menu-branded delivery car.

A Little Blue Menu Toyota Prius delivery car sits in a parking spot outside the restaurant.
There were three company-branded delivery vehicles in the parking lot when I visited Little Blue Menu.

At publication time, Little Blue Menu was hiring drivers to deliver orders in the restaurant's own cars "or potentially by e-bike in a safe and professional manner." The job pays $14 an hour plus tips, according to a job posting.

It took about 10 minutes for an employee to bring my order out to me.

A receipt on the side of a Chick-fil-A bag includes the order's name as well as the fact that they were wearing a red t-shirt when they ordered.
All the food at Little Blue Menu is packaged to-go.

Though Little Blue Menu is a new restaurant concept, there were elements of Chick-fil-A branding throughout my experience that reminded me which brand was in charge. The employees even responded to my "Thank you" with the signature Chick-fil-A "My pleasure."

Also, the employee who took my order had to note on their tablet what I was wearing. As this packaging suggests, it's to help find customers outside when an order is ready.

Though there wasn't indoor seating, there were about a dozen outdoor tables with chairs.

Blue metal tables and chairs with umbrellas above them sit outside a Little Blue Menu location in College Park, Maryland.
All the outdoor furniture was, not surprisingly, blue.

It was a balmy 70 degrees when I visited, but this outdoor seating would be far less pleasant in the middle of winter.

I made my way to one of the tables and started unpacking my meal.

Chick-fil-A drinks in disposable cups and a holder sit on a blue table next to a brown paper bag containing food from the fast food restaurant.
My order came in a mix of Chick-fil-A and Little Blue Menu packaging.

I ordered several items on this visit, including a chicken sandwich and some wings with traditional seasoning.

First up was the classic chicken sandwich for comparison purposes.

A Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich sits in a red-and-white cardboard box with the restaurant's logo and a label with the reporter's name and "Carry out" at Little Blue Menu
I ordered my chicken sandwich without cheese.

It's been 10 years since I had one of these, so I needed to remind myself what it tasted like.

The sandwich looked much like I remembered it.

The reporter holds a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich, including a piece of fried chicken on a bun with lettuce and tomato, at Little Blue Menu
The sandwich, after being freed from its packaging.

The Chick-fil-A sandwich is simple: I ordered mine without cheese but with fried chicken, a tomato slice, and lettuce on a bun.

It tasted just like a regular Chick-fil-A sandwich, too.

A Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich with a bite taken out of it, held by the reporter at a Little Blue Menu location
My chicken sandwich, sans one bite.

The chicken was moist, the bun average, and the toppings scant.

Overall, it was a solid sandwich, though not remarkable. (I've never understood the intense fandom around Chick-fil-A, personally.)

Next up were the wings.

Chicken wings sit in a plastic container at Little Blue Menu with a cup of sauce next to them
I ordered the eight-piece meal of traditional wings with a side of red pepper garlic sauce.

Since the wings were one of the items new to Little Blue Menu, I was eager to see if they were any better than the sandwich.

I was pleasantly surprised by how good they were.

Insider reporter Alex Bitter holds a wing with a bite out of it at Little Blue Menu
The wings were the star of my visit to Little Blue Menu.

While the wings were a little small, they had lots of flavor and came out hot from the fryer. I also liked that they came dry but with sauce on the side since I'm not a huge fan of wings that come swimming in sauce.

In fact, I didn't hesitate to pick up another one (and then another after that).

The reporter holds up a chicken wing above a plastic container of chicken wings sitting on a blue table at Little Blue Menu
The author, holding a second wing.

The order included wingettes and drumettes, and I enjoyed them both.

As I finished my meal, I noticed this QR code next to the seating area.

A QR code sign posted at an outdoor seating area for Little Blue Menu. When scanned, the code takes users to a filter promoting the restaurant.
The text below the code told me to "scan and share" a picture from my dining experience on Snapchat.

Cleaning the sauce and grease off of my hands, I pulled my phone out to see what scanning this Snapchat code would reveal.

Scanning the code took me to a Snapchat filter that allowed me to select my favorite menu items.

A Snapchat filter designed for Little Blue Menu features Insider reporter Alex Bitter selecting items from the restaurant's menu. The items are then placed into a bag that users can feature in a snap.
The Snapchat filter

The filter added the items to a bag as you picked them.

Overall, I was impressed by the chicken wings at Little Blue Menu.

The front of Little Blue Menu, including a blue, all-caps sign and frosted glass windows, in College Park, Maryland.
The signage on the front of Little Blue Menu, including a shoutout to the restaurant's parent company.

I've never been impressed with Chick-fil-A's food, but the wings were good enough to make me want to come back.

That said, I'll probably order for delivery or pickup next time I want them.

A screen near the front of Little Blue Menu reads "Welcome to Little Blue Menu: An innovation kitchen brand created by Chick-fil-A" and includes a cartoon illustration of the restaurant and the flag of the state of Maryland.
A screen in front of the walk-up ordering line, complete with customized artwork for this location.

The fact that there's only outdoor seating — and no dining room — tells me Chick-fil-A designed this restaurant for online orders or delivery through a third-party app.

And although the name and branding are different, Little Blue Menu relies on the Chick-fil-A name.

The front of Little Blue Menu in College Park, Maryland, including outdoor seating covered by umbrellas.
There was a steady stream of cars going in and out of the parking lot as I visited on a Tuesday during lunchtime.

From the "my pleasure" responses of the staff to the packaging and signage, it's clear that Chick-fil-A wants to associate their name with this new brand.

To me, it seemed like a savvy move, given the following that regular Chick-fil-A restaurants have. One woman who sat down at a table near me described Little Blue Menu as "Chick-fil-A, but with wings" as she described where she was to someone on the phone.

Read the original article on Business Insider
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By: [email protected] (Alex Bitter)
Title: Chick-fil-A sells wings through a spinoff restaurant called Little Blue Menu. I tried them and liked them a lot better than CFA's signature chicken sandwich.
Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/chicken-wings-chick-fil-a-little-blue-menu-surprisingly-good-2023-11
Published Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2023 10:02:02 +0000