Review Rating: Two Fish
I've been wanting to try my hand at a restaurant review and the opening of
CHICKEN WORLD in Dallas, Georgia gives me a chance.
Having heard nothing but good things about this restaurant on
P.com - I was excited to try this place which boasts of incredibly large, meaty Chicken Fingers and the best marinated grilled chicken salad...because... "It's a Chicken World, Baby!"
Well, first the good news. If the size of your chicken fingers matter, then Chicken World is going to make you very happy. Chicken World's fingers are HUGE and just the right amount of crispiness to make for a perfect chicken finger. Sauce for the the fingers are the typical flavors (honey mustard, house, ranch...) and come out in little cups. However; there isn't quite enough sauce in that little cup to make it through eating two chicken fingers because they only fill the little cups about 1/4 full. By the time I was on my second chicken finger, the sauce was depleted from my cup and I was having to steal from my husband's.
To make this a fair "fight" between Chicken World and Zaxby's (which is right up the street) I ordered 2 Fingers and 4 Wings and 2 Other Things - which is comparable to Zaxby's Wings and Things. Meanwhile, the Hubby got the Chicken Finger Plate, which had 5 (I think?) fingers, slaw and french fries. Oh...my "2 Other Things" consisted of french fries and two cheese sticks, plus I got a piece of Texas Toast and some celery.
As far as the taste of the food, it is fairly comparable to Zaxby's. Some of Chicken World's fans on Facebook think this place tastes better, but I would say they are pretty much equal - just bigger chicken fingers. Way...way bigger....
Price. Well...OUCH! Our meals and drinks were over $17.00. I was a bit in shock over this because I had looked at their Facebook page and remembered a comment about Chicken World's food being cheaper. Which...it was.....on Black Friday when they gave a 25-percent discount. (Score one for Zaxby's)
Atmosphere. It's a new place so everything had that "new" feel to it. The dining area, however, needed some attention. The tables could have used wiping off and the dispensers ran out of ketchup while we were there. At some point during our meal someone turned up the music (which was Christmas Carols) to the point that it sounded like there was a live performance in the next room instead of the reality, which was an iPod on full volume in one of those speaker stands sitting near the restroom.
The big disappointment was in the service. The owner was running the register and was either in a bad mood or had his mind on other things. He was polite, but curt and expected you to understand how the food was going to come out without explaining it to you. You're called up by number, but he didn't bother to tell you what your number was or how to know what your number was. It seemed to be an inconvenience to him to tell me when I had to ask.
There is a bit of a wait for orders to come out, which was understandable since the Dallas Christmas Parade had let out and the place was getting quite busy. But...my order was messed up when it finally did come out. No sauces (blue cheese and honey mustard) for the meal and then once I sat down, I discovered I was missing the two fingers that came with the meal. Since I had already made one trip back up to the counter to get the sauces, I expected an apology when I returned a second time. Instead, I was sort of ignored when I first got up to the counter and then when he acknowledged the order was messed up, I was left in a state of flux. Do I sit down and the chicken fingers will be brought to me or do I stand there at the counter and wait for them to appear? It would have been nice to have been told what was going to happen instead of letting the customer try to figure it out.
Finally, and this really had nothing to do with the business itself, but it would be really nice if parents would tell their children to face THEM instead of the people sitting behind them. The boy behind me spent a good part of his "waiting for the food to arrive" time turned in our direction and was blowing into his drink. Not only did I have to hear this, but the bubbles were actually hitting me on the arm at one point and since this is cold and flu season - I felt a strong need to run to the restroom and slather myself with soap and hot water up to my neck. THEN - once he did turn around - the boy couldn't keep still, which gave the booth that we both shared as it was attached in the middle, the feeling that it was moving throughout my entire meal.
I may try Chicken World again at some point, but I'm not going to be one of the one's crowing about how wonderful this place is. All in all, I prefer the cheaper prices at Zaxby's and the good solid booths in their restaurant that provide separation for diners that prefer not to have other people's beverages spewed or spilled on them.
