What is Little Blue Menu? What does it imply that it used to be created by Chick-fil-A? Why did it all at once seem in College Park? And, most likely most significantly, how lengthy is the road to get in?
There have been such a lot of questions that I made up our minds an investigation used to be so as. (You’re welcome, expensive reader.)
I unearthed a Chick-fil-A press release pronouncing the hole of the eating place on Sept. 14. The unencumber defined that Little Blue Menu is supposed to function one thing of a beta kitchen, “created to test and innovate new menu items.”
And it integrated this little bit of goodwill, attributed to L.J. Yankosky: “College Park is a hub for innovation, so we can think of no better place to introduce Little Blue Menu.”
I additionally discovered that the eating place’s identify is an homage to the founding father of Chick-fil-A, who experimented with the unique eating place’s lineup on a — smartly — little blue menu. Two earlier Little Blue Menus have existed — one in Nashville and the opposite in Stockbridge, Ga. — however each operated as pop-ups and closed after a restricted time.
But the web can solely disclose such a lot, so I made up our minds to proceed my investigation IRL.
By the time I confirmed up, College Park’s Little Blue Menu were open virtually precisely a week. Every spot within the parking space used to be complete, and other people crowded round outdoor the doorways, looking ahead to their orders or deciding what to reserve themselves. Smiling polo-shirt-clad workers drifted between the blue steel picnic tables outdoor, providing samples of cookies or hen tenders to those that waited. It used to be midday on a Wednesday, and the vast majority of consumers gave the look to be employees on lunch destroy, University of Maryland scholars or oldsters with babies.
The menu — to be had on paper outdoor the eating place and on-line — gives Chick-fil-A’s common fare, together with its vintage hen sandwich and cherished waffle fries, along with some unique choices like blue cheese burgers and bone-in or boneless wings. It additionally hosts a roster of Little Blue Menu-only sauces and seasonings, together with Old Bay — an homage to its new house — and crimson pepper garlic sauce.
I ordered solely Little Blue Menu exclusives: the standard boneless wings with Old Bay and white fish fry sauce, the signature burger, the mini biscuits, and the candy potato toddlers with a aspect of burger sauce (which I discovered to be a quite tangier, extra mature cousin of Chick-fil-A’s vintage sauce).
My order used to be introduced concurrently at the app and over the loudspeaker inside of about 5 mins of my arrival, and I went inside of to the pickup counter to retrieve it. As I grabbed my meals, consumers leaned in opposition to partitions. The eating place is situated within the former house of an Applebee’s, however at Little Blue Menu, there’s no indoor seating.
As for the meals, believe what it could style like if Chick-fil-A made a burger, and also you’ve almost definitely conjured the signature burger. It contains one patty, even though you’ll upload every other for an additional couple of greenbacks, plus tomato, lettuce, pickles, grilled onion, cheese and burger sauce on a buttery brioche bun. As a minimum crimson meat eater and a maximal bread eater, my favourite phase used to be the bun. The bread plus the burger sauce created a salty and candy dynamic that I preferred.
The boneless wings have been virtually similar in measurement and taste to Chick-fil-A’s hen nuggets, even if their seasoning had the lightest contact of a kick, which used to be helped by my addition of Old Bay. I loved them as a result of I revel in Chick-fil-A nuggets, however most likely the roasted or smoked wings would have supplied a extra distinctive style to any individual who craves one thing other.
The aspects have been maximum attention-grabbing to me. Mini biscuits have been virtually like biscuit-flavored truffles — slathered in butter and nowhere with reference to crumbly. The candy potato toddlers, likewise, served up precisely what they stated at the label, however they may well be enhanced with a dip within the burger sauce. The eating place additionally gives Brussels sprouts, mac and cheese, and a choice of cakes, together with a lemon pie bar, chocolate toffee cookies and a cinnamon roll. But my abdomen let the gastronomic portion of this investigation move solely to this point.
Still different questions remained, so I contacted Chick-fil-A’s public family members crew, which declined an interview request. They additionally declined to specify how lengthy Little Blue Menu will stay in College Park. But they did disclose, by the use of e mail, that there will probably be a Little Blue Menu meals truck opening in Athens, Ga., later this 12 months to accompany the only touring thru Kentucky.
I’m really not, it will have to be stated, a die-hard Chick-fil-A fanatic, however I discovered Little Blue Menu’s choices to be a laugh and inoffensive. And my investigation grew to become up one juicy nugget that are meant to serve Chick-fil-A’s maximum ardent, impatient lovers: Little Blue Menu has a supply provider that makes use of its personal drivers, deployed during the Chick-fil-A app or littlebluemenu.com, to ship inside of 10 mins of the eating place. (Again, expensive reader, you’re welcome.)
Little Blue Menu, 7242 Baltimore Ave., College Park. Open from 6:30 a.m. to ten p.m. Monday thru Saturday. Like Chick-fil-A, it’s closed on Sunday.