My daughter and I don’t eat out often, but when we do – we tend to gravitate towards Chick-fil-A. Most times, when we go, I end up getting a coffee and picking off of what my daughter gets – which drives her nuts – but, hey, a little nutty can be a lotta good – right?! 🙂
Now, I have always heard that Chick-fil-A’s customer service was par none; and, up until recently, their employees’ smiley faces and polite replies of “my pleasure” without any eye-rolling (no matter if I asked them for extra sauce or if I could make one extra trip through their kiddie slide) were all the testament I needed.
However, one day, a couple weekends ago, things got dicey… as I was waiting on my daughter at a neighborhood mall, I stopped by a Chick-fil-A to get a cup of coffee. It was around 8.00 pm and I was asked to give them 10 minutes as they brewed a new batch as they had run out – so, I walked off and came back in 10 minutes, only to find that they needed 7 more minutes… aaaand when I came back in 7 minutes – weeeell, there was no coffee yet!
Sensing I was a gal who didn’t need another 10 or 7 minutes of separation from her coffee; another cashier jumped into the conversation I was having with the cashier who promised me my coffee 17 minutes ago. This other cashier (I am thinking this chap was no more than 17 or 18 years old) took over the situation and demonstrated such finesse and charm – I couldn’t help but be bowled over! Not only did he give me my coffee for free, but he even threw in a salad. I was feeling bad to get all these freebies, so I offered to buy some cookies and when I tried to pay, he insisted that they were on the house too! When I got home that night, I sent a quick email to that Chick-fil-A’s store manager with accolades on how professionally this young man had handled an uncomfortable situation. Not only did the store manager write back to thank me for the email, but this past Saturday, I received a letter in the mail with a coupon – for another meal!
I have always been pretty lucky with customer service, but this was just above and beyond anything I have ever experienced before!
Now – in case you happen to be wondering if Chick-fil-A is adding Beet Hot Chocolate to their menu and that’s why I have been going on about them – alas – no, that’s (sadly) not happening- at least, not that I know off. The only link between my ranting and this Beet Hot Chocolate is that this concoction goes above and beyond too! It’s not only a chocolate lover’s dream in taste – but – with those beets sneaked in – it’s a nutrition powerhouse combined with that dark C.H.O.C.O.L.A.T.E! I know that was a pretty lame segue – so I will just say, whether you love beets or not – y’all have gotta try this – it’s taste just might surprise ya!
[Tweet “Beet Hot Chocolate @RunninSrilankan “]
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post – I was not asked to write this – this is merely my experience and my desire to have y’all all add beets to y’alls hot chocolate!
Ingredients
- 3 cups milk of your choice I used Lactaid
- 6 tablespoons cocoa
- 4 tablespoons beet puree from beets roasted for 45 minutes at 400 degrees
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons honey or sugar to sweeten
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons dark chocolate chips or bar roughly chopped
- Whipped cream or coconut cream or marshmallows or toppings of your choice
Instructions
- Pour milk into a pan over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil
- Slightly lower flame and add in beet puree and cocoa and stir till well blended
- Add in the salt, sugar/honey and 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips/chopped bar and stir till melted
- Pour into 2 mugs and top with whipped coconut cream or whipped cream and remaining chocolate chips/chopped bar
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Free Chick-Fil-A AND sneaking veggies into hot chocolate? You’ve won me over. I’m always a little leery of beets, but this drink sounds like the perfect bedtime treat!
I need to try your approach in handling situations with stores etc. I get a bit pissy at times but I often just keep quite if crap happens. You sent the manager a mail too which is cool. I think feedback is something we forget but it’s important, because otherwise how can a business get better if customers don’t share their concerns.
I want to know know how beetroot goes with chocolate, it looks fantastic Shashi. Happy weekend!
Okay this is just so cool – beet hot chocolate???? I love it! I have so many extra beets on hand right now … I need to make myself some of this!
It always makes my day when you get fantastic customer service!
I bet this is delicious, my daughter loves chick fil a.
Thanks Cheri! My daughter too
🙂
That is seriously good customer service. What a lovely idea of combining beet puree with hot chocolate. It looks wonderful and will taste even better 😀
Thank you so much Merryn!
I love hot chocolate and beets but the combination sounds so unusual. Of course now I’m going to have to make some for myself. Wow I just can’t imagine the two together but from what you describe it must be fantastic. Thanks for sharing that. By the way, I’ve never eaten at a Chick-fil-A.
Thanks Vicki!
When my daughter was younger and I used to make this, I used to strain out the mixture to remove any remaining pulp – in case you don’t happen to like beet pulp 🙂
So creative, Shashi! I adore beets…picked, roasted or just plain juiced…even in baked goods. But! I’ve never had Beet Hot Chocolate before! You could very well call this Old-Fashioned Red Velvet Hot Chocolate because some old-fashioned Red Velvet Cakes were made with mashed beets. Either way, I must try this soon this winter! Thanks for sharing, my friend. Enjoy the rest of your week!
Thanks so much my dear friend!
Oh my – I wish I had thought to name this ” Old-Fashioned Red Velvet Hot Chocolate”! Now that’s a fantastic name! Hope you have a wonderful rest of the week and weekend!
maybe the girl at Chick-fil-A didn’t know how to use the coffee machine? well, that’s awesome that you got great customer service!! and love the beet hot chocolate!! did you shape the beet puree on top into hearts? 🙂
Ha! Yes – I put some in a sandwich bag, cut of the end and squirted beet puree in the shape of a heart on the whipped coconut cream – it has a double meaning – it would be perfect for Valentine’s day around the corner – and this hot chocolate is also “heart” healthy 🙂
Thanks Alice!
That really was great customer service. And nice of you to write and let people know how someone made every effort to make things right for you. And speaking of making things right, this is hot chocolate made right. Beets?! I’d never have thought. But it looks wonderful. Thanks.
Thanks so much KR!
That’s great customer service! I love any kind of hot chocolate and would like a mug of this right now please 🙂
Ha – Thanks so much Bianca!
I love when a store or shop goes beyond the call of duty to please the customer for their error. You are so lucky that young man came into the situation when he did, I don’t think the first cashier was much help at all. I believe in calling out errors, as well as congratulating them for their good service. It’s so nice that you did that here. Okay… now onto this fabulous sounding beet hot chocolate… Whaaaat! I am so bowled over and I’m dying to dry it. 🙂 Wish I could get a coupon in the mail for a free hot chocolate. 😉
Thank you and thank you! You are too kind! Come visit and I will make you a tall mug – deal? 🙂
Can you taste the beets? Looks so good! That is very good customer service indeed. I could have used some of that this morning when my usual 45 minute commute took two hours due to delayed trains!
Tara – it’s kinda hard to isolate the beets in this – the cocoa and melted chocolate disguise it well – but, with that said – this doesn’t taste entirely like plain hot chocolate – it tastes somewhat “fruitier” I guess…for lack of a better word…
How do you come up with all these fantastic recipes including beet? Seriously, I’m fascinated! You manage to turn beet into a luscious treat, how cool is this?
Thanks so much Daniela – I have a long history with beets – most of what I post, I have had many many times before – like this beet hot chocolate – this started about 13 or so years ago as I was trying to sneak something healthy into my daughters hot chocolate 🙂
You know how I feel about beets, but I have to admit this is very creative. You’re definitely the Beets Queen Shashi (hope you like this title!)
I sure do know your feelings about beets – Mr. Cauli-King! 🙂 ..hope YOU like THIS TITLE, my friend!
Beet in hot chocolate?! You are on a roll, gal 🙂
Love the outcome on the whole experience at Chick-fil-A. You are right that its not about getting things for free, it’s how they’d handle the situation — with so much poise and dedication to their customers! I’ve got to pay them a visit soon 🙂
Thanks so much Kiran – you hit the nail on the head – poise and dedication go a long way in my books!
I love your Chick-a-Fil anecdote. While food is definitely important at any restaurant, good service can equally make an experience…and personally can sometimes overwrite not-so-yummy food. I also love that you emailed the manager after- a few minutes of our time can really help advance an employee’s career/role.
This is such a creative way to use beets, Shashi- I know they pair well with chocolate but I would have never thought to add ’em to hot chocolate.
Thanks so much Khushboo!
That kid was so awesome – I’ve crossed paths with a lot of teens – when I meet exceptional ones, I like to do whatever I can to give ’em a boost 🙂
Genius! So, this is healthy, right?? 🙂
You bet! Of course – if you used full fat milk and milk chocolate and boatloads of sugar – well…it might not be the healthiest – but it has beets! 😉
First beet crepes and now beet hot chocolate! You might just turn me into a beet lover yet. I’m definitely inspired to go out and buy me some beets. This hot chocolate looks quite scrumptious! Great story about Chick fil-a, but then I can’t say when the last time was that I ate fast food. My niece used to work at one and loved it. She said it was a great place to work.
Thanks so much MJ!
I sure hope you come over to the “beet” side! 🙂
My daughter is applying at Chick Fil A this evening – quite a few of her friends work there and love it too – like your niece!
I can’t EVEN with you and the creative ways you sneak healthy foods into your recipes! This sounds wonderful, Shashi. I’ve had beet -soup- before, but never hot chocolate… aaaand since everything tastes better with cocoa, I’m going to go ahead and day that I’d probably prefer this way 😉 I wonder if I can ask Mom to make that for our next holiday meal instead of her usual borscht…
Oh my – I just Googled borscht and woa – I’ve never had a soup like that before!!! Good gawsh – beets and tomatoes with onions and garlic – and potatoes and cabbage/spinach – my stomach is rumbling as if I didn’t just have dinner!
Btw – Thanks Amanda! 🙂
I drink beet juice all the time but it’s been so cold I gravitate to hot drinks now, along comes Shashi with a recipe for two of my favorite things beets and chocolate and together. I think this sounds delicious and it’s packed with lots of nutritional benefits. Great job. I’v never been to chick fil-a sounds like good customer service.
Thanks so much Suzanne – seeing you had my favs – kofta and curry and korma all rolled into one recipe – I just figured I would return the favor 😉
I’ve played with beetroot and chocolate for a while now, Shashi. I’ve never thought of putting them together in a drink. I find beetroot juice so overpowering, maybe it needs the chocolate to mellow it. Not sure if I’ll get it past my wife, but I’ll give it a go.
David – how do you get the juice? Do you juice them? I don’t use the juice – I roast beets – which kinda makes them sweeter to begin with and then puree them and use the puree in everything from hot chocolate to cupcakes to cookies to crepes to pancakes – my daughetr never used to like beets – but she is a fan now – specially when beets are combined with chocolate.
I actually cheated as I don’t have a juicer. You can get beetroot juice with a touch of orange in it off the shelves these days. I’m going to get some this morning and make a hot chocolate later. I’ll report back.
“beetroot juice with a touch of orange” – wow – I haven’t seen anything like it here! Ok – I am looking forward to hearing back -no matter if you like it or not- thanks for keeping me posted, David!
Wow – I bet this tastes just wonderfully rich, Shashi!
I loved your story about the restaurant! Isn’t that just sweet? I’ve had similar experiences lately, actually. I think a lot of places are emphasising customer service a lot more than in the past – thankfully! That was definitely needed over here in the UK!
Thanks Helen! I remember when I was in the UK – we stayed in a small town not too far from Wimbledon and just about everyone I knew there was so nice! Of course, things were different outside of there!
What a lovely story. You sure did wait an incredibly long time for a coffee but I’m so glad that astute and attentive young man sorted your issues and at the end, gave you a feel-good experience. And now you have a voucher for another meal! You’ll be able to order your own dish and not just eat your daughter’s! And your hot chocolate looks incredibly good xx
Thanks Charlie!
Haha – I gave my daughter the voucher – so, guess I will still be picking off her meal 🙂
You are a genius – I’d never think to put beets in hot chocolate. Pinned!
Thanks so much Jeanette!
Honestly, not a fan of Chick-fil-A, their politics really throw me off the deep end. I do respect great customer service though so I’m glad they were able to fix it up for you! What a veggie friendly hot chocolate!
Thanks Pamela – I love me some veggie filled treats! 🙂
Glad you received good customer service after all, you deserved it!!! Great ad creative idea- beets hot chocolate-never thought of it! Pinning for later 🙂
So sweet of you to say – Thanks so much Mira!
Beets and hot chocolate is definitely not a combo I would have ever thought to put together, but I’m so glad you did! Now I want to go make some beet puree to have on hand! Thanks for sharing such a creative recipe!
Thank YOU Alanna! I cannot tell you how much I love my stash of Beet puree – it sure comes in handy!
Hmm…not sure about beet hot chocolate although I know you would never share something that isn’t super tasty!!
I do think that Chick-Fil-A has some of the best customer service around – we don’t go often since it is in the mall and we rarely go to our mall.
You are spot on, Kim – I wouldn’t share it if it wasn’t tasty! When my daughter was younger, I would strain the beet hot chocolate before I poured it into an opaque mug with a lid -see, back then, she didn’t know there were beets in her hot chocolate – now she is cool with it though – what I was trying to say is that when it’s strained, you really don’t taste the beets at all.
I would never have thought to add BEETS to hot chocolate! Such a great idea, and I’m excited to try this recipe. I loved your Chik-Fil-A story too. It makes me want to go there now!
Thanks so much Melanie! And thank you for stopping by
This is SO creative, Shashi! I love that you hid so many beets in this hot chocolate, it looks incredible and the color is so so pretty! Wow, such great customer service too, that was so nice that the manager wrote you back 🙂
Thanks so much Kelly!
Amazing customer service indeed!
I love the combo of beets and chocolate, but never considered it for hot chocolate!? Definitely going to try this Shashi.
As a beet and chocolate connoisseur yourself, I know you will truly understand when I say – I LOVE beets and chocolate! 🙂
Btw, thanks so much Marissa
Hahahahaha! I love you story and I am dieing over how awesome this hot chocolate is! You just made my day 😉
Aww – thanks Rebecca!
WOW, what an amazingly unique idea! YUM!
Thanks so much Jamie!
This is crazy! Love the addition of beets. Actually, both beets and chocolate are two of the pre-exercise foods I recommend for my clients, so this would be a fantastic workout fuel 🙂
Thank you so very much Rachael!
More beets! Love it. And CFA is by far my favorite fast food chain and I agree with you, always wonderful custmoer service! In fact, the ones around here even have children’s activity night, like next week they are sponsoring a super heros night! They do a great job. Now, pass me the chocolate!
When my daughter was younger, we used to go by CFA more often – her school used to have a Chick Fil A night!
This looks delicious– it would be the perfect pre-run drink on a cold winter morning!
hanks Lisa – I always used it as a “treat” – but now I need to try it pre-run!
Okay I am so intrigued that you keep pureed beets in your fridge… do you just throw them in the food processor then jar them?
Haha – Cassandra I roast about 6 or so at a time then when they cool down, I skin them and throw them in my blender – a food processor would work better am thinking – then seal them in airtight containers and use them – I have kept them for about 2-3 weeks before – and use them as needed.
I am ashamed to say that I STILL have not tried beets before, LOL!
Chick-Fil-A… Oh geeze….. I know a certain someone who literally makes love to that place on the daily, if not hourly – LMFAO! Perhaps he will order this beet hot chocolate? Yeahhhh prob. not !LOL
You haven’t tried beets yet???? DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. Glad you are back from your trip lady!
DUDE I KNOW!! Don’t smack me over the head with a beet! I just have to stop “beeting” around the bush and “beet” up!
AH HA HA! I am so flipping clever… Or stupid! 😉
Hahaha – YOU are flipping CLEVER! Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!
You loooooove beets, don’t you? I gotta try your beet hot cocoa concoction, Shashi! Something new and exciting.
I am also a Chick-fil-A costumer but I have to say I was rudely treated once– in a very humiliating way. I filled up a complaining form as soon as I got home and less than one hour later I received a call. The man on the other side was the owner of that unit and treated me very well. He did not like at all to hear what one of his employees did to me. He apologized and sent me coupons but even though I would not eat on that specific Chick-fil-A anymore. I go to others. I am glad that you were very well treated though!
Yes Denise, I do love beets! When I was in college I used to eat them straight up from a can -with boiled eggs! Not the best way to enjoy them – but, I was time crunched and needed a beet fix! 🙂
Thanks a lot for reminding me that we have no Chick-fil-a’s up here, Shashi. Seriously. The closest one is down in NYC. When we first moved here, I was like “huh, where’s the Chick-fil-A?” I’ve slowly overcome this sadness…until you just threw it in my face! 🙂
I’m super impressed with this beet hot chocolate. You must buy your beets by the cratefull…and you always turn them into the most awesome recipes ever! Also, I think the universe is conspiring to have me eat more beets. Tori over at Gringalicious just posted a delicious beet smoothie. What’s this world coming to??
Haha – I am so sorry y’all don’t have a Chick Fil A up there!!! Sounds like that’s reason number 9,876,543 that y’all have to move! 🙂 I remember when my sis lived in NYC, every time she came down to Atl for a visit, she would insist on Chick Fil A for breakfast EVERYDAY!!!
Ha – actually, I don’t buy my beets by the cratefull – a little beets go a long way! Though now that you mentioned it, I need to find me a local farmer who would do exactly that…hmmm….
I didn’t know Tori – nor did I know she was a fellow beet lover – us beet lovers gotta unite! Thanks for the intro David – I am gonna have to check out that beet smoothie!
you are the queen of beets, agreed! and i love it! it’s the best POWERFOOD, especially with chocolate! YUM!
Aww- shucks – thanks so much my friend!
I’m going to rename you the Queen of Beets! This is amazing!!
Haha – Thanks Joanne! 🙂
Glad to hear that customer service is alive and well. It is not often that you hear about people doing the right thing and treating the customer first. This beet hot Cocoa looks so pink and pretty just perfect for the Valentines day sweetness.
Thanks so much Bobbi! I adore the coloring that beets lend to everything they are used in!
I adore the idea of adding pureed beetroot in the hot chocolate. You are a genius!
Aww-shucks – thanks so much Angie!
It’s so nice that they did that for you! I have never eaten at Chick-Fil-A (vegetarian + their anti-gay history makes me uncomfortable) but that is truly superb customer service. I’m very impressed! I also love the sound of this beet hot chocolate. Such a great way of giving one of my favourite winter drinks a healthy twist!
Thanks Genevieve! You gotta try adding beets next time you have a cuppa hot cocoa – I used to strain the extra “pulp” out when my daughter was younger – but if you have a good blender – there shouldn’t be much pulp at all in the first place!
I wish Chick-fil-a was in Australia. 🙂 That customer service testimonial is one they’ll be glad to get.
Maybe they’ll try the beet hot chocolate.
Thanks Maureen – I wish they had beet hot chocolate on the menu! 🙂
Wow, that was outstanding customer service you eventually received in Chick-fil-A Shashi. Lynne and I have nothing bad to say about any of the customer service experiences we had in Las Vegas last year. In fact it would do good for some of the people here to learn from American customer service standards!
Love your Beet Hot Chocolate! 😀
Thanks so much Neil!
That is such a unique one and an absolute winner.
Thank you so much Taruna!