I drove an hour to Chick-fil-A's first Scottish drive-thru restaurant - here's why it wasn't worth the hype

‘If you build it, they will come,’ is, famously, not a line from Field of Dreams. But it is the mantra of American fast food giants opening new restaurants in the increasingly beguiled towns and cities of Britain.

On Thursday, the latest transplant arrived with the opening of Chick-fil-A’s first Scottish drive thru, located in Hamilton.

It is not the first time Chick-fil-A has operated an outlet in Scotland. Previous attempts have been made in Edinburgh and, surprisingly, in Aviemore. Both closed after backlash around the chain's anti-LGBTQ stance.

Promising “the brand’s signature US Drive-Thru”, it is designed to introduce “a new drive-thru experience to the UK”. That new experience is “Team Members” ditching headsets and speaker boxes and instead standing outside the restaurant, taking orders face to face using tablets.

An idea that seems fine in the sun of San Diego, but we’ll see how it fares in the hail of Hamilton.

Almost $24 billion in sales in 2025 proves that the brand is, undeniably, popular in the US and it’s hard, given the recent successes of similar restaurants like Popeyes, not to see that carry over to the UK.

But the real question is, what sets it apart from the rest? It should be noted that the Hamilton branch sits about a chicken’s flight from another American fast food giant specialising in chicken.

So, I paid a visit. There are many things worth sitting for an hour in traffic for, and I’m sure each of you readers will have your own idea of what that constitutes to you. For me, I’m not entirely sure that “the brand’s signature US Drive-Thru” experience was one of them.

The teenagers manning “the brand’s signature US Drive-Thru” are undoubtedly friendly. They are chatty and they are helpful. They will say things like “that’s one of my favourite menu items,” when you ask for a Chick-fil-A Lemonade. They will banter with you when you struggle to use the card machine. It’s all very American customer service.

Again, we will see how that pans out when the rain is stoating off the ground in December. It begs the age old question; Can they do it on a cold, wet Tuesday in Hamilton?

The food itself? I ordered a ‘Spicy Deluxe Sandwich’, and at least one out of those three words was a misnomer at £10.99 for a meal. It’s a breaded chicken burger with a bit of mildly spicy cheddar cheese slapped on the top and some salad.

The bar is fairly low with fast food, but you’d probably be a bit disappointed if your mate served you this at his birthday BBQ.

They don’t do chips here, instead it’s waffle potato fries. The ones I received felt and tasted like they’d been sitting for a while, which given how busy the place was doesn’t bode well.

I’ll give them some credit, the Chick-fil-A sauce was pretty good.

Maybe I have just reached that age now where I “just-don’t-get-it”. But it did make me ask the question, are we eating this food because we actively enjoy it or are we eating it to say that we have been a part of “the brand’s signature US Drive-Thru” experience? I do not know, is my honest answer.