A local barbecue restaurant in Alabama learned the hard way that a neighboring Chick-Fil-A prefers to kill with kindness.
Back in July, a Chick-fil-A on Airport Boulevard in Mobile, Alabama posted a sign advertising its limited-edition barbecue sandwich. This didn’t sit well with Ashleigh Valuzzo, co-owner of Moe’s Original Bar B Que across the street, since her restaurant is known for its barbecue chicken sandwiches.
“[Chick-fil-A] is directly across the street from us, so I felt compelled to respond just because it was so funny,” Valuzzo told HuffPost. “I started a group text with some of my wittiest employees trying to think of something funny to say.”
What ensued was an adorably meaty sign war that’s smoldered for over a month.
For the initial poke at Chick-fil-A, Valuzzo said she wanted to keep things light.
“We didn’t want to get aggressive because Chick-fil-A has some fiercely loyal customers,” she told HuffPost.
“Chick-fil-A, I thought we were friends... Open Sundays” read Moe’s first sign, taking a dig at the chicken chain’s policy of closing on Sundays.
Chick-fil-A was a little slow to respond, as manager Jon Hewett had to get permission from his boss first, he told HuffPost. But after about three weeks, the store put up a sign asking Moe’s to be friends again.
Moe’s responded that it was too late: They’d moved on to be with Diamonds, an “adult entertainment club” down the street.
The banter continued back and forth, with Chick-fil-A avoiding any direct digs at Moe’s ― but not too shy to ask for a company secret.
“Chick-fil-A is known as being overly nice and friendly,” Hewett said. “So I knew I had to respond in a way that wasn’t mean. But I also knew I had to make people laugh.”
Finally, Diamonds gently advised Moe’s to let its former friend go, with a sign of its own.
The friendly sign feud is still going, Valuzzo said. Hewett said he plans to continue responding about once per week, with no plans to stop.
Oh, what saucy fun.
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