gbdub

May 7th, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^

Well, unless you're bringing a homemade lunch, you could do a lot worse. Chick-fil-A scores pretty high in the "Eat This, Not That" series, and a grilled chicken sandwich with a side salad and ice tea is a damn satisfying lunch well under 500 calories. Since the portions are reasonable, even the fried sandwiches aren't god awful for you every now and then.



Is it "healthy" in the crunchy Whole Foodie cage free organic kombucha marinated quinoa tofu salad sense? No, but in the "don't get fat" sense, you're better off there than at just about any other chain (or non chain restaurant) on campus. Your standard Chipotle burrito or Jimmy Johns sub easily doubles the calories.

gbdub

May 7th, 2014 at 4:02 PM ^

"Bad for you" in what way, and compared to what? Since the initial parameters were "obesity and diabetes" and "compared to other fast food places", I stand by my assertion that Chick-fil-A ain't that bad.



Most non-fast food joints will be as bad or worse on similar items. Zingermans has far higher quality, more "natural" ingredients, but eating there every day will make you just as fat and diabetic as any Chick-fil-A meal.



Calories, particularly from carbs, are what makes you fat and diabetic. Dietary cholesterol and salt may contribute to heart disease, though this is less universally true than once believed. Most everything else (given reasonable intake of certain necessary vitamins) is basically in the noise as far as overall health is concerned, as long as we're staying in the realm of established science.

Jonesy

May 9th, 2014 at 5:06 PM ^

The calorie in/calorie out model is wrong and part of why the majority of our country is fat, that and the demonization of fat and the praise of grains (which is finally going away to some extent).  You can eat as much as you want of real food and never get fat, or you can starve yourself with non-fat fake foods and diet sodas (and then inevitably binge because you can only starve yourself for so long) and remain fat or be skinny-fat at best.  If the calorie in/calorie out model worked our country wouldnt be so horribly obese.  1 carb of sugar <> 1 carb of broccoli.

gbdub

May 7th, 2014 at 12:16 PM ^

I patronize them for entirely savory (sometimes spicy) reasons.



Chick-fil-A is like In-N-Out: a regional favorite that gets people gushing like its manna from heaven. It's not, but it's far superior to the offerings of most fast food chains. It's sort of like a good greasy pizza - terrible, but sometimes you have a craving that no highfalutin' artisanal fare will satisfy.



And views of the corporate head notwithstanding, the people that work there are consistently almost painfully nice. I've gotten better service at Chick-fil-A than at a lot of real restaurants. (Not sure this part applies to a campus location though, as the one at the ASU equivalent of the Union is turrible).

LSAClassOf2000

May 7th, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^

They actually have a page which gives the 10,000-foot view of their growth markets - 

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Licensing/Map#?map=growth

If this is current, Michigan is not a growth market by whatever metrics they employ, but the Northeast, Mountain West, the extreme southeastern US, and the more western half of the Midwest seems to be. Michigan and Indiana sit in some strange Chick-Fil-A deprived (although I think Oakland University has one) void here. 

Njia

May 7th, 2014 at 12:07 PM ^

Is just okay. It's a chicken sandwich (cooked in peanut oil, by the way, for those with allergies). Sure, they will claim to have invented it, but that doesn't make it the best one on the market.

hopkinsdrums

May 7th, 2014 at 12:09 PM ^

As a southerner attending U of M, I have been slowly dying without any Chik-fil-A in the general viscinity. This is a major victory. Now if we could only get a Waffle House...

bronxblue

May 7th, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^

Legit question - is there still a Wendy's in the Union?  If not, my world is shattered.

But I guess good for Michigan, though I haven't had one of their sandwiches in years so I'm not sure if they are as good as the fans like to say they are.  It feels like a regional chain that people talk up because its local and/or they haven't really tried anything else before.

gwkrlghl

May 7th, 2014 at 12:27 PM ^

When I wanted Chick-fil-a in college, I drove to Toledo. Probably for the best though, as I would've been obese if it was on campus in my time

Edit: Looks like a prank

BeileinBuddy

May 7th, 2014 at 12:25 PM ^

The article says its going in the MUG but that would mean a tenant will be leaving. Ahmo's just got in there, Panda is still there, Wendy's still there, and Subway expanded to take around the corner, squeezing out Pizza Hut. 

Maybe Ahmo's is leaving because they felt they didn't get enough traffic like they thought they would, or they're building a completely new counter in the back study room area.

Poor Oakland U., their only claim to fame was having the only CFA in Michigan but is having that taken away from them.