Say It Ain't So: Chick-fil-A Salads to Go...for Good

To be honest, I enjoy a Chargrilled Chicken Garden Salad from Chick-fil-A more than a
Chick-fil-A sandwich. Not only do I get the fix of eating Chick-fil-A chicken, but I feel good
about myself because it’s chargrilled, so I can actually eat something healthy at a fast-food
chain. If I am still being honest, though, I do love the Chick-N-Strips Salad — even if it has
twice as many calories as the chargrilled version. And to be even more honest, I am eating a Chargrilled Chicken Garden Salad while I write this post.

Unfortunately, Chick-fil-A recently announced the removal of all four salads — Chargrilled
& Fruit Salad, Chick-N-Strips Salad, Southwest Chargrilled Salad and the Chargrilled
Chicken Garden Salad — to replace them with three supposedly healthier salads and the
addition of one low-calorie Grilled Cool Chicken Wrap.

The new salads will arrive in Chick-fil-A franchises starting April 29. When comparing nutritional information, the new salads are not significantly lower in calories or fat than the current menu items; in fact, a couple of them have the same or more calories. The current menu offers three salads with chargrilled chicken and one salad with the Chick-N-Strips, whereas the new menu will offer two salads with Chick-fil-A Nuggets and one salad with chargrilled chicken.

The Asian Salad, at 330 calories and 13 grams of fat, includes the ever-popular Chick-
fil-A Nuggets on top of romaine lettuce, baby greens, shredded cabbage, carrots and
mandarin orange pieces. Rather than the classic Chargrilled & Fruit Salad or the Chargrilled Chicken Garden Salad, the new menu will offer a Grilled Market Salad with grilled chicken breast, romaine lettuce, greens, cabbage, carrots, blue cheese, apples, strawberries and blueberries, coming in at 180 calories and only four grams of fat. The Cobb Salad, at 430 calories, features the Chick-fil-A Nuggets on top of lettuce, greens, cabbage, carrots, corn, cheese, bacon, egg slices and grape tomatoes.

This effort to revamp the menu falls right in line with the efforts of other fast-food chains,
like McDonald’s with its new McWrap and Egg White McMuffin; Burger King with its new
Turkey Burger; and Taco Bell with its announcement that it will meet nutritional guidelines
before 2020. But for customers who love the classics at Chick-fil-A, even if it is just the
Chargrilled Chicken Garden Salad, I can guarantee they will definitely miss these classic
salad options.

I would much rather Chick-fil-A kept the salad options it currently has and just
offer a few of the other options it has just created. The more the merrier, and customers
could still have their favorites.

Unfortunately, you cannot stock up on salads the day before the launch of the new
salad lineup because Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays, so I will definitely order myself a
Chargrilled Chicken Garden Salad on Saturday. But let’s look on the bright side. At least
Chick-fil-A isn’t saying goodbye to its Chick-N-Nuggets, strips or sandwiches. The world would come to an end if Chick-fil-A didn’t serve its signature chicken items or those waffle
fries…Man, I sure love me some waffle fries.

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