It’s a cool and rainy Monday afternoon, but the line for Foosackly’s nearly wraps around the building. The line is gone by the time a parking place has been found.
Foosackly’s, a small southeastern chain restaurant with a location in Auburn, was voted Best Chicken Fingers by readers for this year’s Plainsman's Choice. Located next to the Glen Dean Shopping Center, this fast food restaurant is further away from downtown than some of the other Auburn chicken finger joints, but it's a drive that people are happy to make.
“It feels good. It feels good that people are recognizing us and what we do,” General Manager Chris Ledbetter said.
Auburn’s Foosackly’s is one of only 15 restaurants in this fast food chain, with the first Foosackly’s opening in Mobile, Alabama in 2000. In an article by Lawrence Specker for AL.com, Will Fusaiotti, cofounder of Foosackly’s, said “It’s not how many you open, it’s how many you keep open.”
For Ledbetter, the goal of longevity is best maintained by providing quality customer service.
“We try to balance the speed of the food with our service, but we pride ourselves more on the service aspect of it. The food is important, and the speed is important, but for us, the service has got to be the top priority,” Ledbetter said. “W ith the food quality being right behind.”
This customer service and quality of food is what attracts Auburn citizens to Foosackly’s, with the largest crowds typically coming in on Sundays.
“Weekends, but specifically Sunday, are our bread and butter days,” Ledbetter said. “The church crowd, the college crowd, we see it all, especially during the fall.”
According to Ledbetter, the most popular item on their menu is the Box, which comes with five chicken fingers, fries, slaw and toast. The menu list is limited, but it offers sandwiches, salads and boxes. All of the items on the menu are equipped with chicken fingers. For those who prefer their food spicy, buffalo sauce can be added to anything on the menu.
When considering what the most underrated item on their menu was, Ledbetter struggled to pick an answer.
“I would say sandwiches, but we sell too many of those,” Ledbetter said. He then asked the cashiers, who also struggled to think of an underrated item. Eventually, the group decided that their coleslaw is their most underrated item. “Or the salad,” Ledbetter said. The cashiers agree, but include that the salad is even better when covered with buffalo sauce.
Despite the short menu list with only one meat option, Foosackly’s menu appears to have something for everyone.
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Davis Brasfield, senior in psychology, is a news writer at The Auburn Plainsman.
