Ever wonder where the best Christmas lights are in St. Louis?  There are a lot of options whether that is the zoo or Our Lady of Snows… and there are many others.  But have you ever thought about the Christmas lights at fast food restaurants?  Many restaurants have stepped up their holiday spirit and have gone all out this year.  This season, the competition is between Candy Cane Lane, which is by Ted Drews and the Chickfila on Manchester Road. 

The competition is split up into 3 categories: creativity, efficiency, and design.

The first category is creativity.

Candy Cane Lane had lots of blowups and Christmas lights that really got creative.  The most creative item found here was a tie.   There was a “Let’s take an elfie” sign where kids could take pictures pretending to be an elf and a sculpted santa made out of sand.  People started to call it “Sanda.” 

Next is Chick Fil A.. As many have seen their lights and decorations through the drive through, they did a pretty good job.  The red and white lights on the top are nice and can be seen from the road.  The Christmas tree is also  made out of lights. 

Although Chick Fil A put up a nice fight, the winner of this round goes to Candy Cane Lane.  They were more creative with their decorations, however, Chick Fil A was a close second.

The next category is efficiency; a very important category because time is of the essence during the holidays. 

Candy Cane Lane has the option to walk on the sidewalk through the lights or drive through.  This is where Candy Cane Lane gets a lower rating in this category because the line was super long to drive through.  It would take about 45 minutes to wait in traffic before seeing the lights.  Having the ability to walk through to the lights is nice, however, not always the most accessible to families.

Chick Fil A is known for their speedy service.  The line at Chick Fil A to see the lights took about seven minutes and were able to drive under them as well.  Chick Fil A also has the option to walk in by foot, just as Candy Cane Lane has.  

The efficiency category is going to Chick Fil A.  They are always super speedy as opposed to the 45-minute wait at Candy Cane Lane.

The Last category is design, focusing on the arch of lights.

Candy Cane Lane had an arch way of super bright lights that was on the sidewalk.  It had multicolor lights as was pretty tall.  This was a super cute design added and it was executed wonderfully.

Chick Fil A also has an arch way in their drive-through line.  It is super wide and tall and has red and white lights all the way around. Their arch was also executed wonderfully.

Now this category was the hardest to decide.  Both had pros and cons.  A con being that both had limited accessibility.  Only the walkers at Candy Cane Lane could go through the arch and only the people driving at Chick Fil A could drive under the arch.  The being said, the winner of this category and the competition is Candy Cane Lane!

This was a very hard decision in that both had wonderful lights, but it ultimately came down to the amount of creativity at Candy Cane Lane and how many lights there were.  WIth that being said, it was a super close competition and Chick Fil A was a strong contender.

Gallery • 7 Photos

Nic Hild

"Let's take an Elfie"

Let’s hear if the other Angels think about how should have won!

Senior Grace Zolla has definitive thoughts on the winner.

“I think Candy Cane Lane should win because it has so many amazing decorations and everywhere I look, I see a new decoration,” Grace said.

However, Senior Sophie Middendorf disagrees with Grace.

“I am always in a rush and don;t have a ton of time to wait to see Christmas lights so I think Chick Fil A should win.  I always go there and seeing there Christmas spirit makes me happy.  It is also super uniques of them since I don’t see many fast food restaurants that have lights,” Sophie said.

There you have it.  It was a close competition this year and hopefully with this information, the St. Joe community can form their own opinions of who had the best Christmas lights and decorations!