Rant: Bob Evans’ Memphis Spice-Rubbed Chicken is Fried

From bobevans.com:
“New Bob-B-Q Memphis Spice-Rubbed Chicken.
Two bone-in chicken breasts are spice-rubbed Memphis style, then oven roasted to seal in the flavor.”

So on today, Wednesday, June 2, 2010 shortly after 11:30am I go to a Bob Evans close to where I work in Dublin, Ohio #129. I order the dish described above, along with some loaded French fries, a salad, and an iced tea. I had ordered the dish before and was pleased.

However, today, what I was served were two dried out chicken breasts. No moisture on the outside, and very little on the inside. This was not the dish as I remembered it. So I complained to the waitress.

At first I was concerned about being served old food. See, they don’t start serving this dish until after 11 am. Which means, at the most I should have gotten oven fresh pieces of chicken less than an hour old. As dry as these pieces were, I thought I was getting yesterday’s chicken warmed up.

She explains to me that they deep-fry the chicken, and the initial batch spent too long in the fryer. I was surprised and asked the manager, and sure enough it spends approximately 30 seconds in a bath of oil before it is served on the plate.

Take another look at the description above. Does it mention anything about being fried? I looked up “Memphis style” and it is “a dry coated BBQ with a rub and cooked in a smoker”. The description also hints at being barbecue, which is grilled over coals or gas. Oven roasting is specified in the description. No mention about being deep-fried at all.

Bob Evans deliberately misleads customers into thinking this is a slow-cooked oven product. It has no breading or batter. It is almost hinted at being healthy.

This is not a grilled Burger King hamburger, which it puts in a microwave. Bathing the chicken in hot oil turns it into “Fried Chicken”. It should be stated very clearly that this product is fried it its name and description.

What else does Bob Evans deep-fry without advising the customer? Ribs? Grilled Chicken? If they don’t tell us in one instance, how can we trust them in others?

Don’t get me wrong; I am not opposed to fat and calories. I am not on a diet (yet), and I don’t have any reactions to any food. I am however opposed to being misled, if not lied to by the people supplying my food. That’s my issue!

I called Bob Evans’ corporate office and complained. The lady who answered the phone looked on her menu and didn’t see the word fried mentioned either. They took my information, and said it would be reviewed. I have a feeling in a couple of weeks I’ll get a gift card with a generic form letter that doesn’t address the issue.