Merry Yelpmas at PDQ

What a great event! The staff at PDQ was so very welcoming and offered up a very generous selection of all of their sandwiches. Every last on of them was delicious in it’s own way and I’d say my favorite was probably the Angus Barn Chicken sandwich which had to be the heartiest chicken sandwich I’ve ever had. For the sweets the Mint Oreo milkshakes were awesome but the Apple slices with toffee was OUT OF THIS WORLD. Seriously, people were killing the apple slices with one-​two bites and then shamelessly digging in to whatever leftover toffee was left with the little wooden spoons. Lauren did a excellent job, as always, of organizing the event and coordinating with the staff a PDQ to make sure we were all taken care of. I was also really sold on the efforts PDQ goes through to make sure all of their ingredients are fresh as can be. They even took us on a tour of the back of the house to show us where every bit of food they serve is prepped fresh before cooking.

As a mom of two, whenever there is a Unilocal event that I can bring the kids to, well I’m there. This one did not disappoint. My kids were especially happy and claimed PDQ the best restaurant ever. These are big words coming from two chicken connoisseurs.
PDQ has come into the game with several things that put the other chicken place to shame… firstly they have a slew of sauces that are all made IN STORE. Which means no preservatives, no high fructose corn syrup! The second thing is that everything you order? Made when you order it. There are no warmers or even space for them to do this, so what you get is fresh and just for you. Order a salad and want it tossed? Just ask. This is really such great features, you don’t mind that it is fried chicken.
I had a California club and it was the perfect size breast with all the fixings fitting perfectly on top. The fries are fresh cut and seasoned by hand. One child had a kids tender meal and devoured it. without me asking him over and over. The same for my daughter who had the honey marinated nugget meal.
This was not my first time to PDQ, but we were very happy with how they run their business and how good the food was and will be back!

What a wonderful way to spend my Monday evening! With so many holiday decorations, holiday cheer and such pleasant staff at PDQ, the only way to sum up this event is with 5 stars!
I have never been to PDQ before but have always seen their sign while out and about in Durham, Raleigh and Fayetteville but never knew the concept behind the business. But after talking to their staff and checking out the place (and a tour of their facility), I must say I’m really impressed. They really do bring a different level of quality and service to casual fast food restaurants everywhere. Firstly, they do not use any freezers or microwaves… there are none of those in the store anywhere! Just let that sink in for a moment… Now that brings a whole new level to the word FRESH in my opinion. Secondly, their facility is so nicely organized and clean! As a person who has worked in several different food settings, I’m amazed that we didn’t see any excessive clutter or red flags in terms of dirt and sanitation concerns. I mean, that’s a huge plus for me; knowing that the areas where my food is stored and being prepared is clean is a big deal. And thirdly, the staff is awesome! Everyone, from the Operations Director to front line staff members always had a smile on their face, greeted you warmly and were just so pleasant and helpful! That really makes a big difference for me to be treated as a person and not as a number. I mean, how great is that?!
And the food… oh the food! I really cannot wait to dine at PDQ and order their Royal Chicken Sandwich again. The breaded chicken was so tender and juicy, the bacon was crispy and the pickles were so fresh and crunchy! I loved every aspect of this sandwich! It was so filling and $ 1 goes to Angus Barn’s charity of Walk for Hope! I mean it tastes great and I’m helping to raise money for a charity; win-​win. The fries here are the skinny type of fries (again never frozen) and I love that they’re crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Yum! I also loved that their sauces had no preservatives but still tasted great. Shout out to the chipotle bbq sauce!
Thanks Lauryn for another amazing event! I loved the themed and interactive activities you had on the tables for us. My gingerbread cookie is proudly displayed at home and my +1 and I will be hanging our hand-​made ornaments on our tree! Overall, this event is one I’ll remember particularly with such incredible service and delectable food! Special thanks to the PDQ staff!!! You all were so awesome and truly made this such an wonderful event. I cannot wait to return back and dine here again!

Thanks to Lauryn for another wonderful Unilocal event. I can’t really expand on anything that has already been said. For me getting to see how the food was prepared fresh to order, being on the back «stage» tour, meeting the friendly employees and getting to try all of the sauces was heavenly. Love the food and was excited to try the Angus chicken sandwich. Great event, great food and I can’t wait to go back and continue to work my way through the menu.

It is rather awesome when a business with four Triangle locations opens all four of them up to the Unilocal Elite for four consecutive nights. Also awesome is our CM Lauryn C that created a different theme for each location and night. My +1 and I went on night one to the Raleigh location with the theme Merry Unilocalmas. We donned our Santa hats and brought unwrapped toys for the Toys for Tots toy drive.
First visit to PDQ (People Dedicated to Quality). I enjoyed having their marketing manager and store operator give us a store tour so we have a better understanding of their concept. Liked the placement of the menu, which is at counter level to make it easier to see and ask questions to the employees as you place your order. Also liked that the two things I kept hearing were fresh and made to order. There are no freezers, warming lights, or pre made foods. It is all done at the moment you place your order. Even the drive thru is a hands on operation — no talking to a box to place an order.
While all of that was great the most impressive thing to me was the marketing genius of pairing up with our area’s most iconic restaurant The Angus Barn for the Royal Chicken Sandwich. Having the head chef of the Angus Barn create a fried chicken sandwich with his unique creative (and delicious) touch and then giving $ 1 per sandwich sold to an Angus Barn charity — genius! Too bad it is only a limited time offering.
Unilocalers had the chance to create their own gingerbread men (or woman or person). As one of my Facebook friends said when I posted a photo of mine — don’t give up your day job! PDQ offered us two types of salads and a blueberry cole slaw, We also got to sample the delicious cookies and a granny apple slice with caramel dip. Really liked that caramel dip.
We each ordered a sandwich of our choice at the counter and then samples of french fries, the Royal Chicken sandwich, chicken tenders, and a mint chocolate cookie milkshake were brought to the tables. Each table also had their fresh made sauces on the tables to sample with the meals.
Enjoyed the whole experience. Thanks to PDQ for hosting us and to Lauryn C for yet another successful Unilocal Elite event.

I’ve never heard of PDQ before, but this experience was wonderful. I am the kind of person who orders salad at fast food joints, so I’m happy to find out the salad there is fresh, crunchy, comes with a store made sauce that has no preservatives. I also really liked their Apple in toffee dip. If I’m in the area is go for their salad next time:)
Thanks Lauryn for the Xmas themed event, we had fun making our ornaments!

‘Twas a very Merry Unilocalmas and all through the house,
Unilocalers were eating, now I’m on the couch.
So much to eat, I gorged like a fatty
Cookies and toffee dip, hand-​breaded chicken patties.
The sauces were cooled in the fridge with much care,
Preservative-​free, no high fructose corn syrup there.
No microwaves or heat lamps, every sandwich made fresh,
Right when you order it. Yes, fresh is the best!
In addition to good eats, elite Unilocalers found
A gingerbread man without even a frown
Ready for icing and a smile on his face
He brought plenty of cheer to this fast casual place.
A fun little craft while we munched on our eats,
An Angus Barn sammy that just can’t be beat,
A dollar from each one goes to a good cause,
I searched the place over but couldn’t find any flaws.
Freshly squeezed lemons in homemade lemonade,
With a dash of real sugar, it was a mouth serenade.
Blueberry coleslaw with a poppyseed dressing,
Yes, blueberries in coleslaw! No, I’m not messing!
What a wonderful night that included a tour,
Of the PDQ ops, they loved us for sure.
Thanks Lauryn, and Lilly and all at PDQ,
I’ll be back for that toffee dip, and a milkshake or two!

Thanks again, Lauryn, for an awesome event! I had heard so many good things about PDQ, and all of them were confirmed tonight at my first visit through Unilocal.The food was delicious, but my favorite part of the event was the behind the scenes tour, which kind of explained why the food is so good. I had no idea that none of their foods are frozen, and all of them are prepared fresh to order (including their fries!). Order a salad? It’s tossed right then. Not to mention, all of their dressing and sauces are prepared in-​house w/​no preservatives. Impressive and delicious. If you are a sauce lover, you’ll also be pleased to know that there are so many delicious sauces from which to choose– and they are steak house quality. I had the buffalo tender sandwich, which reminded me of a sandwich from Tobacco Road– except w/​o the high price tag and the downtown parking headache. We’ll definitely be coming back now that we know what we’ve been missing. Last but not least, we enjoyed decorating our own gingerbread men and meeting more awesome Unilocalers!

I enjoyed my behind the scenes tour at PDQ. There are no freezers, warming stations or pre made salads at this restaurant. Everything is made fresh per your order. We saw employees breading chicken, making sauces and putting salads together. After our tour we each ordered a chicken sandwich. I went with the buffalo chicken combo which was very tasty. The fries on the other hand weren’t cooked enough, but others had a better fry experience. The slaw and salads were heavily dressed (mayo or ranch) so not my thing. The cookies and apple dip were a big hit. They are donating $ 1 from each Royal Chicken Sandwich (Angus Barn collaboration) until end of December. Thanks PDQ for the tasty introduction. I’ll be back for more of your zesty chicken.

Merry Unilocalmas at PDQ Raleigh was a fun, festive event featuring fresh fast food! Yeah never thought I’d use fresh and fast food in a sentence until tonight!
Thanks PDQ (which stands for People Dedicated to Quality) for opening your doors up to us Unilocal Elites and showing us all you have to offer! From milkshakes to chicken tenders as well as your philanthropic efforts, I learned so much and the food tastes great! We even got a behind the scenes tour to learn what they are all about!
Unilocal Elites donated toys for Toys for Tots and in the spirit of Unilocalmas, my spouse put on a santa hat while my daughter/​I rocked reindeer ears to celebrate the season!
The Menu :
hand breaded chicken tenders with homemade sauces,
made from scratch sandwiches
Sides
hand chopped salads with homemade dressings
hand cut fries
hand cut apples with homemade toffee. Addictive!
blueberry coleslaw
Dessert
freshly baked cookies
Drinks
hand squeezed lemonade, delicious sweet tea, unsweet tea, and green tea.
I really appreciated this being a family event and being able to bring my daughter who loved making her own milkshake along with other kids!