Boston Market/Boston Chicken

Coney Island Lou made an interesting comment that seems to thread all the way thru the RoodFood site. He talked about how Boston Chicken was "pretty good for franchised slop". It is interesting to read those thoughts, since it appears that most people who comment on this site seem to have the feeling that the franchised chains who failed..
Burger Chef, Red Barn, Carrols and others were good places, and their "franchised slop" was either good or superior, but dammit, the ones that made a success, Buger King, Wendy's, Mc Donald's, Cracker Barrel and such are all evil and awful. It sounds a little elitist and snobbish to me. Am I a great fan of Mc Donald's, or Burger King or Pizza Hut? No, but the snobbishness that comes out seems more like sour grapes, than objective thinking.

I think (not absolutely certain) that only 1 Boston Market location remains open in the greater Cincinnati area, in the Oakley/Hyde Park area.

I actually thought it was pretty good stuff, albeit a bit pricey for what you got.

I agree it seemingly went downhill more or less coincidental with the name change.

Some of the Boston Market sites have turned into KFC around here.

Rocky: You don't have to be a snob to know that those chains you mention are not great places toeat!

Boston Market still in Florida. Like the creamed spinach, but prefer Publix lemon pepper chicken over theirs.

There are still Boston Markets in the Columbus area, although a couple have been converted to Donato's. Both are now owned by McDonald's.

I hadn't eaten at a Boston market for about three years until last week when for some reason I stopped off on the way home and ordered a quarter chicken white and a couple of sides. It was nothing like I remembered. The chicken was dry, the macaroni and cheese was tasteless and the potatoes were mostly cold. The best part was the corn bread and it was nothing to write home about. That will definitely be my last trip. McDonald's can ruin anything.

I think the worst thing is their meatloaf. Dry and mealy. I think there's cardboard in it.

Last time I was in Boston there were still plenty of Boston Markets around but the fad had kind of died down I think. Being a chef I don't eat stuff out like chicken which I can cook at home but I must admit the Costco rotisserie chickens look awesome. Our local Anchorage store has two rotisseries, each cooks about 40 birds and they are always sold out at $4.49 a bird.

As an Assistant Manager at a Boston Market in Chesapeake, Virginia (the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area) it amazes me to see all the negative and dour feedback from so many people from across the country, on a variety of our products, shocking really. I'm only 21, and wasn't around for the 'Boston Chicken' name, although many of our products have not changed since that time either. While McDonald's maybe Satan themselves to many, they were, and are, Boston Market's saving grace, while having no impact on the food quality or service aspects of the company. I came onto Boston Market prior to the bankruptcy proceedings, and have seen the changes in the company since McDonald's took over firsthand. The only changes are uniform presentation, standards of customer service have been dramatically increased, and our sales and profit margins have shot through the roof.

McDonalds had no affect what so ever on the food quality of our company. After the sale's completion, they examined the company, our food, and standards, and realized how high our quality of food expectations were, and left them as they are.

For all those of you who have had bad and negative experiences in the Boston Market chain, i do sincerely apologize. Nothing bothers me more than to hear about 'other stores' who've dropped the ball, ran out of product, had horrible service, rude employees, or anything else that may reflect negatively on me, as an employee of the company. We're only human, and we do try our best, and sometimes it's not good enough, and i am sorry. However, that's why i have my job, and as a manager, if there's ever a problem, there is nothing that we would not do to fix the issue, and try and make your inconvience right. I sincerely hope that some of you are willing to try the company again, or give us a chance. I've worked in 12 stores in three states in the Northeast area, and i know first hand that one store's experience is completely different from anothers, one gets it right, and one can mess it up. I do apologize, and hopefully we'll enjoy you as customers sometime in the near future.

For those in the Chicago, Tampa, Atlanta, and Boston regions, our new concept is called Rotisserie Grill, a more upscale dining experience, with sit down service, beer and wine, and an open flame grill for a wide variety of upper-scale entrees and dishes. They have gotten rave reviews from many, and i encourage anyone able to at least check this out once.

Thanks, and if anyone would like to contact me, my email's available, or for AIM/AOL users, my screen name is ICW Spiker3. I'd be happy to talk to anyone about any problems or suggestions or concerns.

Bstnmrkting:

That was a well written position and even though I personally have never tried your chain, I appreciate your effort on maintaining standards and good customer service. Your company should be proud of the position you take.

Unfortunately with large chains, maintaining standards becomes more difficult. Sort of like the bell curve, you have management at all points.

Good luck with your management position.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I, for one, take my grandchildren to Boston Market while we are out running errands and want a fairly quick lunch. A meal of macaroni and cheese, the fried apples (or whatever they are called) and serving of spinach makes a far better lunch for a small one than a burger and fries.

I am against chains in general as I feel that they hurt the small local restaurants but sometimes a Boston Market comes in mighty handy for me. (The last time I took them to one of our local diners (quite near the Boston Market), we sat and waited for service for 15 minutes while the waitress was visiting with other guests and cleaning tables.) This does not happen in a Boston Market.

This is months after the last post, but I didn't want to start a new thread. My daughter & I thought we'd give Boston Market a shot again after not eating there for 6 years. 6 years ago I'm sure we both had a mild case of food poisoning from there. The only thing I would eat from there ultimately at that time was the turkey breast with a side of those mushy apples and the red potatoes. I was on Weight Watchers for the first time at that time and still lost weight eating that. I was glad to be able to eat outside of the home at that time (I was obsessive with WW back then!). Anyway, we ate there last week right after our weigh-ins and daringly ordered chicken. It looked good and we were starving. I got the apples and the potatoes. The texture of both was tired, that's the only way I can describe. I hate to wait till my blood sugar goes down and then I eat at these places and so totally regret it. After we ate there, within minutes, and I swear it was not psychosomatic (sp?), we both had pains in our stomachs. The chicken there is just greasy. I also don't think it has much flavor. The quality's not good and now we can definitely say after 6 years we're not going back anymore. Oh and PS I think they're overpriced.

Hi, my name is Bob and I like Boston Market Rotisserie Chicken.
Whew, got that off my chest!

I refuse to succumb to the notion that chains are bad...and I give BOston Market credit for trying to provide a bit healthier food and more variety than the run-of-the-mill fast food place. I go to BM (forgive the unintended humor of the acronym) once a month at most (I'm disappointed that the ones closer to home have closed) and I think that not only is their chicken good, I think that with specials they run and coupons they offer it can be a decent value. I'm not universally fond of their side dishes (I gotta admit I'd like fries with that), but it's pretty decent stuff. Compared to the limited times I've easten at 2 other similar chain chicken places (Koo-Koo-Roo and Kenny Rogers), my preference chicken-wise definately went to Boston Market.