The Specialty Chick-Fil-A Pineapple Drink That You Can't Get Anywhere Else
On May 27, the world — in this case, meaning TikTok — was shocked to learn that Truett's Luau, a Hawaiian restaurant in Fayetteville, Georgia, is run by Chick-fil-A. As Delish reported, people raved over the different menu, which boasts the Pineapple Nut Milkshake, mentioned in the title. The milkshake-meets-the-tropics beverage contains a mixture of ice cream and raw pineapple. The menu also has things like fish tacos and sweet potato waffle fries. Although Truett's Luau is indeed owned by the Chick-fil-A franchise, these specially chosen menu items can only be found at 600 Lanier Ave Fayetteville, GA.
According to the obligatory blurb on Chick-fil-A's website, S. Truett Cathy (the founder of the chain) once visited Hawaii and loved it, so much so that this restaurant was created. The Chicken Wire explained that "From the very beginning, Truett wanted to bring the taste and feeling of Hawaii to Fayetteville." However, Truett's Luau is not the only specially branded Chick-fil-A store.
Others under the S. Truett Cathy Brand restaurants banner, all of which draw inspiration from the myth of Truett Cathy, include spots like Truett's Grill: An homage to 1950s diners and Truett Cathy's love of mechanized transport that has three locations throughout Georgia; and The Dwarf House, type of restaurant with six outlets throughout Georgia that is modeled after Truett Cathy's first restaurant. Delish also states that Chick-fil-A used to run a Truett's pizza, too, but that had closed.
S. Truett Cathy's restaurant cult
While KFC has Harland Sanders and Wendy's has Dave Thomas, the Truett Cathy branded restaurants seem to take their devotion to their founder to another level. When Columbus Business First wrote that Wendy's had created a special outlet to serve as a museum for the then dead for a decade Dave Thomas, it was an oddity. In Truett Cathy and Chick-fil-A's case, however, there's an entire museum, about which we've written, and series of restaurants that serve as miniature exhibitions in their own right throughout the state of Georgia.
That said, the proliferation of shrine-like outlets also seems very on brand for Chick-fil-A. While Eater and National Restaurant News describe Chick-fil-A's relationship with its original fanbase in terms of a cult, they use it more like the phrase cult classic, like Rocky Horror. However, when The Atlanta Journal-Constitution took the time to write about the people who camp out for the chance to be one of the 100 who receive 52 free meals when new restaurants pop up, it touched on the larger command Chick-fil-A has over its fanbase in comparison to Wendy's or KFC. Recognizing that customers will be sleeping outside on their premises overnight, Chick-fil-A treated them to a series of meals, a DJ, a lip-sync competition, and managed to wrap them into packing free food for the Atlanta Food Bank.
Each restaurant for 15 years has opened to such an event. And these were just the regular ones. It's no wonder then Chick-fil-A has expanded into special, pilgrimage-worthy franchises.