Chick-Fil-A's Signature 'My Pleasure' Phrase Was Inspired By This Luxury Hotel

There are a few things you can always count on when you hit up your local Chick-fil-A: tender, crunchy chicken, great waffle fries, and, of course, employees responding to your "thank you" with a "my pleasure." While Chick-fil-A has welcomed big changes in 2026, its commitment to politeness and service has stayed the same. We explored why, exactly, employees all give the same joyful retort when they're thanked by customers. It turns out that Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A asked his team members to respond with "my pleasure" instead of "you're welcome" after a visit to the Ritz-Carlton in 2001, where he noticed that hotel employees always responded with the phrase.

The phrase was slow to catch on across all restaurants — until Truett Cathy's son, Dan Cathy, began using the phrase and encouraging others to do the same in 2003, and the team never looked back. While there are some rumors out there that you'll get free food if an employee forgets to use the phrase, that's not actually true. According to people who say they work at Chick-fil-A on Reddit, the phrase is included in the employee handbook, but it's simply encouraged — not required. Chick-fil-A has some of the best customer service compared to other fast food chains, according to reviews, so it's clear that the chain is doing something right.

Chick-fil-A makes a point to create a welcoming environment for customers, and asking employees to say "my pleasure" instead of "you're welcome" isn't the only way the chain asks its employees go the extra mile. On Reddit, people who say they work at Chick-fil-A have shared some of the rules that employees are expected to follow while they're on the clock. 

Some of the rules are pretty spot-on for restaurants in general — employees are expected to have a neat appearance, including tucking in their shirts. There are pretty strict hair rules at Chick-fil-A — men can't have hair that goes past their collar, and women must tie their hair back if it goes past their shoulders. Beards aren't allowed, and men can't have any visible piercings. Women are permitted to wear small earrings (no other piercings are allowed to be visible). Hairstyles can't be distracting — this means non-natural hair colors and hair carvings aren't allowed. 

While there are certainly quite a few expectations that Chick-fil-A employees are expected to follow, many say that working at the restaurant is a positive experience. Like many fast food restaurants, the work is fast-paced (even though Chick-fil-A has been found to have the slowest fast food drive thru). Many employees say that the team environment is uplifting, making it a true "pleasure" for those who like to stay busy.