{"id":30657,"date":"2023-02-28T15:10:14","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T20:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=30657"},"modified":"2023-02-28T15:10:18","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T20:10:18","slug":"a-chick-fil-a-bans-unaccompanied-minors-we-are-a-family-friendly-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2023\/02\/28\/a-chick-fil-a-bans-unaccompanied-minors-we-are-a-family-friendly-restaurant\/","title":{"rendered":"A Chick-fil-A bans unaccompanied minors: \u2018We are a family-friendly restaurant\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The poor behavior of rowdy teens was a major factor behind the decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Pennsylvania Chick-fil-A is not clucking around.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"356\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" src=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/chick-fil-a-minors-mc-230228-75a828.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30658\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Feb. 22, its franchise location in Royersford, Pennsylvania, incited debate after announcing that it would no longer allow unaccompanied children and teens to dine at its location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The announcement, which was&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CFARoyersford\/posts\/5876905745696579\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">issued on the location\u2019s Facebook page<\/a>, pointed to a series of \u201cunacceptable behaviors\u201d for its decision. Loud volume (peppered with explicit language), mistreatment of property, mistreatment of employees and unsafe behaviors were cited as part of the decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FCFARoyersford%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02B8Do81QSuBZEWZEiAjG3ynhZ4vsSd5rwqyAAd9jnTMCiCfeQcu1PwSt98b1STUhUl&#038;show_text=true&#038;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"291\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe want to provide a comfortable and safe environment for our guests and our staff, and also to protect our building,\u201d the post read. \u201cTherefore, we cannot allow this to continue. As a result, to dine in our restaurant, anyone under the age of 16 is required to be accompanied by an adult.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The franchise thanked those \u201cunaccompanied children and teens\u201d that had visited the location and \u201cacted appropriately.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cParents, we are not blaming you,&#8221; the post continued. &#8220;Children and teens are learning to navigate the world free from supervision and often push the boundaries. We simply can\u2019t let them push those boundaries anymore at our restaurant. We encourage you to talk to your children and ask about behaviors they have seen and perhaps participated in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though not permitted to stay at the restaurant without adult supervision, the franchise noted that teens could order food to-go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TODAY.com reached out to both the Chick-fil-A Royersford location and Chick-fil-A headquarters regarding the decision but has not heard back from either as of this story\u2019s publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over 300 comments have flooded the announcement on Facebook. The general response has primarily favored the location\u2019s choice, with many users expressing their frustration over their experiences at the chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI witnessed a group of these kids a few weeks back on a Saturday while trying to grab lunch, and I gotta say, I\u2019m surprised it took you this long to say something,\u201d one person commented. \u201cTheir behavior was awful and made for an uncomfortable experience trying to enjoy lunch. I fully support your decision and am sorry you have been dealing with it for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAlthough I don\u2019t agree with many of CFA\u2019s policies, I strongly agree with this one,\u201d another replied. \u201cIt\u2019s too bad a restaurant has to punish all for the bad behaviors of a few, and VERY disappointed that these kids aren\u2019t learning manners and how to behave at home. Need parents and guardians to step up!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBoundaries must be established for the health and safety of your employees and customers,\u201d a final user replied. \u201cI applaud Chick-fil-A for taking steps to ensure such.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s not the first time an eatery has put a ban on unsupervised minors and made headlines for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In early February,&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.today.com\/food\/restaurants\/new-jersey-restaurant-netties-not-allowing-children-under-10-rcna70198\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New Jersey-based restaurant Nettie\u2019s House of Spaghetti<\/a>&nbsp;announced that it would no longer permit children under the age of 10 to dine at its location. The location explained that extreme challenges such as \u201cnoise levels, lack of space for high chairs,\u201d and \u201ccrazy messes\u201d had gone into its ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2021,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.today.com\/food\/restaurant-bans-patrons-under-18-dining-without-parents-due-bad-t232873\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Red Rooster Burgers and Grill \u2014 a family-owned spot in Garden Valley, California \u2014 shared its new policy<\/a>, which would prevent children under 18 from dining without an adult. The restaurant noted that incidents worse were \u201cwhen school is in session\u201d and perpetuated by more than a single group of children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have spoken to them numerous times. We have moved the tables to a more visible area in the dining area so to keep an eye on them. This limits the area in which we can seat dining customers,\u201d the restaurant\u2019s owner said at the time. \u201cWe have locked the bathroom door and handed out the key to those in need, which is inconvenient for our other customers. We have installed a mirror that reflects the dining area from the cooking area. In the past, we have kicked out those we physically saw conducting destruction or disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The poor behavior of rowdy teens was a major factor behind the decision. A Pennsylvania Chick-fil-A is not clucking around.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On Feb. 22, its franchise location in Royersford, Pennsylvania, incited&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[4647],"class_list":["post-30657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional-and-world-news","tag-a-chick-fil-a-bans-unaccompanied-minors-we-are-a-family-friendly-restaurant"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}