Some Lessons to Learn From Chick-fil-A, In-N-Out Burger and a Terrible Experience at Taco Bell

My family tends to travel over the holidays, and for us, this means a lot more dining out than we're used to - never an easy feat with two vegetarian adults, three picky kids and a limited number of options anywhere we go. On a recent trip to California, I thought it would be fun to take the family to In-N-Out Burger so the kids could try what I'd argue is one of the best - and most affordable - fast food experiences available.

I also knew that my wife and I were going to out of luck when it came to entrees, as In-N-Out Burger's very simple menu - consisting solely of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, milkshakes and soft drinks - is not particularly vegetarian friendly. But as it happened, this particular location near the campus of UC Irvine also had a Taco Bell in the same parking lot. To a vegetarian, that means a chance for a halfway decent meal, because Taco Bell is one of the only chain restaurants that offers a significant number of reliable vegetarian options.

"It's a win-win," I told my wife. "I'll take the kids into In-N-Out, you go grab us some burritos, and we'll all have milkshakes and fries." Lunch, for once, was going to be easy. Or so it seemed.

As is often the case with In-N-Out Burger at lunchtime, the place was busy and the inside was absolutely packed. We were fortunate to be able to find a booth not long after we placed our order, but it was about 15 minutes before we finally got our food. While the kids sat at the table, I hung out around the counter, marveling at the speed and efficiency with which the staff were dealing with orders. And, perhaps even more surprisingly for the day before Christmas at a location near a college campus, the place was actually fully staffed, with a person in every position and everyone working together to drop fries, prep burgers and fill up shake cups. Everyone was wearing a tidy-looking uniform with a white shirt, red apron and paper hat.

Even the order-taking experience was incredible. The person taking our order had been patient with our family of five asking for an unorganized assortment of items, but all of them were behaving that way for every customer, even those who were struggling to articulate what they wanted. Outside, I could see a steady stream of cars at least 20 deep backed up into the furthest reaches of the parking lot, placing orders with smiling staff who were walking between cars and inputting orders into wireless tablets.

Finally our order was up, and my son and I retrieved it from the counter in a couple of trips - with no argument from the person who'd prepared our trays for us! - and dropped it off at the table. I was finished with my milkshake and most of the way through my fries when I saw my wife finally stepping out of Taco Bell. She stopped to talk to someone sitting in a car outside, and then walked over, frustration written all over her face.

"That was a nightmare," she said, sliding into the booth with us. "They said they were understaffed and had to serve the drive-through first."

"But there are hardly any cars in the drive-through," I said. "I was just noticing how busy In-N-Out is and how not busy Taco Bell is."

"And we saw you talking to someone outside!" one of the kids blurted. "Why do you always have to talk to everybody so much?"

"Yeah, we were waiting inside together," she sighed. "They waited 20 minutes for two tacos and then cancelled their order because it was taking too long. I was just telling her I finally got my food."

I peaked into the bag. "They didn't give us any hot sauce," I said.

"You can go get it if you want," she said. "I'm done."

I closed the bag and looked around In-N-Out Burger as I finished what was left of my fries. The place was still hopping, but they now had an employee out cleaning up the lobby, refilling the straws and lids and offering to take trash for people who were dining in. The line of cars had dwindled a bit, but it was still receiving new customers and then pushing them through the lane quickly. My kids were raving about the quality of the food and then commenting that they couldn't believe how inexpensive the menu was. All around me, customers were smiling and happy.

Meanwhile, the Taco Bell looked empty, with just a few cars plodding through the drive-through. It was a sad sight, particularly when you considered this location was located in the same city as the global corporate headquarters for the brand.

How was it that two restaurants right next to one another could offer such a different experience?

A recent article by Clint Rainey in Fast Company magazine profiled Chick-fil-A, the current wunderkind of the fast food world that's nearing $19 billion in annual sales across 2,800 restaurants. The parallels between Chick-fil-A and In-N-Out Burger are striking - both are long-established fast food chains founded by people with strong religious values and which are well-known for using quality ingredients, providing great wages and benefits to their staff and for offering superior customer service. But whereas In-N-Out Burger seems confined to the states where its signature palm trees can grow and has limited itself to 400 privately-owned locations across the Western States and Texas, Chick-fil-A has grown from being a mall staple and predominantly Southern chain to a nationally beloved franchise brand that has its eyes on international expansion.

As the Fast Company article notes, Chick-fil-A enjoys a powerful brand image, particularly among teenagers. And this is despite currently receiving boycotts from people on both the left and right of the political spectrum - the former for the previous CEO's 2012 comments about gay marriage, the latter because the brand is trying to focus on diversity, equity and inclusion to repair its tarnished image and make itself more palatable to international markets.

While Chick-fil-A serves a quality product, that's never enough to make a brand beloved, and despite Chick-fil-A being the original popularizer of the fried chicken breast fillet on a bun, most fast food chains now have at least one chicken sandwich on their menu. What sets the brand apart is the experience it provides its customers. The article notes that the firm conducted marketing research in the early 1980s to try to uncover how it could distinguish itself from imitators offering a similar chicken sandwich. The research resulted in a focus on customer experience as a key differentiator, and the chain's tight control over its franchise network (limiting almost all owner-operators to a single location, requiring them to work in the actual restaurant and live in the community they serve) allowed the company to enforce strict protocols over how customers were being treated any time they visited a Chick-fil-A location. A 2005 focus on something called 2MS - "Second Mile Service" - applied a Biblical idea of going the extra mile to providing an even higher level of customer service. This even led to rescripting communication - it wasn't enough to simply say "please" and "thank you" - staff were taught to say things like "my pleasure" and "may I refresh your beverage?"

But getting employees to provide superior service requires more than careful scripting. Being a former fast food manager myself, I know how hard it is to get underpaid and often overworked people to show up for a shift and give it their all. Chick-fil-A offers above-average wages (the article cites up to $20 per hour) and encourages owner-operators to offer benefits like full healthcare coverage, 401(k) matching, tuition reimbursement and life insurance.

In-N-Out Burger, likewise, offers both part-time and full-time benefits in addition to what its website describes as "competitive salaries" and an annual company picnic open to the families of all employees, and that may be part of what's behind the fact that the location I visited was fully staffed and humming along as if being busy was absolutely the norm for everyone there. But beyond that, a Reddit thread featuring remarks from current and former employees talks about how the job is challenging, demanding and engaging, but also supported by great management and a constant focus on culture and teamwork.

Compare that to Taco Bell, a highly successful chain that was once itself the darling of younger fast food customers, but which is most strongly associated today with being a value brand. While Taco Bell is a major cornerstone of YUM! Brands's restaurant portfolio and is continuing to post growth, the chain's customer service scores and employee feedback are not anywhere close to what you will see from customers and employees at Chick-fil-A and In-N-Out Burger. And while Taco Bell offers average pay and better-than-average benefits for a restaurant chain (such as paid holidays, tuition reimbursement, maternal leave and a 401(k) matching plan), the

In other words, both Chick-fil-A and In-N-Out have figured out a powerful secret about how to offer a superior customer experience - make your employees feel like they're an important part of your mission and they'll want to make sure that every customer interaction matches it.

In the second season of the recent streaming show The Bear, one of several standout episodes features the abrasive restaurant manager Richie being forced to do some on the job training at an upscale restaurant run by Chef Terry where the staff are fanatical about providing superior service and treat every day like it's the Super Bowl. Richie is initially resistant to all the attention to detail that the staff put into everything, and Chef Terry is initially portrayed (without being shown) as being an autocrat who demands precision at every turn. But as Richie begins to see what all of this effort leads to in the dining room as delighted customers flow in and out each evening, he begins to understand the importance of not just serving good food, but delivering it alongside an exceptional experience. Richie's eventual encounter with Chef Terry reveals that all this focus on being the best isn't about being competitive; it's about taking joy in serving others and receiving their admiration and appreciation in return.

The message for Richie is clear - the restaurant business isn't just about getting orders up and making money; it's about expressing love for others through the delivery of something that can nourish us all. It's more than just service with a smile - it's service provided by employees who not only care about making sure their customers get the very best of what they can offer, but who also feel supported and empowered to deliver it.

And like most customers, I'm willing to accept that every day doesn't have to be the Super Bowl where service is concerned, and one bad experience at Taco Bell isn't going to sour me. After all, it was the day before Christmas, and we were on a college campus where workers were in short supply and it's likely that one or more employees called off and left everyone else to carry the load. I can accept that it was probably just a bad day for those who were working; I've been through similar days myself in my previous life as a store manager.

But at the same time, things don't have to be that way. Those service companies who dare to go above and beyond for their employees will find that their employees will then go above and beyond for their customers.

And those customers will come back again and again.

They may even bring their families.