A Tale of Chicken Sandwiches

Food

Oct 2, 2020

As is mentioned a couple of times, I enjoy a variety of food and I take cooking/food prep to be a serious passion of mine that I devote a reasonable ammount of time to. A natural question that arises is "what is my favorite food?". The answer to this question is somewhat elaborative, but certainly when going to any fast food place, my answer is a chicken sandwich.

For my fellow chicken sandwich lovers, I took the time to venture to 8 different fast food locations serving chick sandwiches, and have rated each on a number of categories to ultimately help you make decisions next time you're deciding on a drive through for the best sandwich!

Restaurants Reviewed and Ranked:

Slim Chicken
Raising Canes
Sonic
McDonalds
Arby's
Local Restaurant (Burger Stand at the Casbah)
Burger King
Chik-Fil-A
Homemade
Popeyes

Here is the list in reverse order:

Slim Chicken($4)
This sandwich was altogether inferior. The bread was soft and mushy. The breading on the fried chicken was thin, and had no crunch that is expected of a fried chicken sandwich. There was very little, if any sauce on the sandwich, and the pickles were overly moist(though not un-tasty). While it was fine sized and filling, it was not worth the price tag.
Raising Canes($4)
This sandwich is nothing more than slightly higher quality than Slim Chicken's. It offers the same cuts of chicken on very similar bread. The sandwich is roughly the same price and size. It does have lettuce instead of a pickle. However, the breading on the chicken was slightly superior. I also receieved more chicken than on Slim Chicken's, but it is more likely that the difference was purely a result of probability of the sandwiches I was given.
Sonic($2)
It appears to me that Sonic is hoping to emulate Popeyes to the best of their ability, but it is very apparent that they are not interested in spending more to reach Popeye's unmatched quality. While Sonic uses the same bread, a similar sauce, and pickes as a topping(like Popeyes), it is hard to overstate how bland the fried chicken was. I could not always tell where the bread ended and the chicken started, as it all tasted like bread. That being said, for $2, I can't complain too much.
McDonalds($1)
Considering it is on the dollar menu, it is hard to critique since that you are getting a reasonable ammount of chicken and bread for that price is already worth something. At one point many years ago, it was a phenomenal sandwich, with good breaded chicken, lettuce, mayo, and maybe even a tomato if you were lucky. Now, it is breaded chicken and lettuce on a bun. The bun is squished, and the lettuce's lack of crunch removes any textural components.
Arby's($4)
I spent a good chunk of time debating whether or not Arby's deserved to be above or below McDonalds, as the sandwich is quite similar. On one hand, it was quite a bit nicer, with fresher tasting chicken and the additional topping of a tomato. On the other hand, it is four times the price. I ultimately decided to rank it based on taste, texture, and enjoyment rather than cost, though it might be true that 4 chicken sandwiches from McDonalds would be a better meal than one Arby's sandwich.
Local Restaurant (Burger Stand at the Casbah)($10)
A local restaurant favorite of mine in the Burger Stand in Downtown Lawrence, Kansas. It is large, comes with avacado, romaine lettuce(a welcome change to the iceburg that is so common), tomato, grilled chicken, and a variety of sauces to quench any needs. The bread is high quality, and it is clear the chicken was cooked immediately before serving. The reason it is not higher on this list is purely due to the price tag. As you will see, there are sandwiches that are as good for a fraction of the price.
Burger King($3)
The fact that Burger King's chicken sandwich dwarfs McDonalds came as a surprise to me. It is quite a bit more expensive, though I do feel $3 as satisfied when I eat this, so I believe it justified. It has a spicy variety, which I believe is some chili powder that is mixed into the chicken breading, is much larger, and has more toppings. Namely, lettuce, tomato, and a reasonable ammount of mayo. There is a Burger King in almost any city in the world, so it quite easy to come by.
Chick-Fil-A($4)
This sandwich mirrors Popeyes, the winner of this list(spoiler alert!), though it is considerably smaller. In addition, I found my sandwich to be a little bit drier, and subsequently it took a quite a bit longer to eat. There are also questions on whether or not you support eating a Chick-Fil-A, considering their past and maybe present ties with anti-LGBT groups. While I don't want to take that into consideration of the quality of their sandwiches, you may feel less comfortable choosing to eat here for those reasons, so I think it's important to mention.
Homemade($3)
Fry chicken thighs using a classic 3-stage battering situation, make your favorite special sauce(usually some combination of mayo, ketchup, and mustard, along with a special twist like pickle juice), choose one or two toppings(I do tomato and spinch), and throw them on a toasted bun. It's an excellent sandwich, because you made it, and controlled almost every variable for your personal taste. However, it requires quite a bit of work, maybe 30 minutes or so to get all the ingridents prepped, fry the chicken, assemble the sandwich, and eat. In addition, if you are using high quality ingridents, the prices can get a little higher, especially if you only want one or two sanwiches. That prevents it from topping the list.
Popeyes($4)
This is a perfect sandwich. It far outclasses anything I can make at home. The bread is light, fluffy, flavorful, and maybe even buttered. The breading on the chicken is unbeliavly crispy and full. If you get the spicy version of the sandwich, you can taste paprika, cayenne, and chili powder. The chicken thigh they place on the bread is comically large, spilling out of the bread. The pickles and sauce are a perfect sweet and sour combo to pierce through the richness. If you have a popeyes and have not tried their chicken sandwich, I unequvically believe you are missing out.

A Tale of Chicken Sandwiches

Food

Oct 2, 2020

Slim Chicken

Raising Canes

Sonic

McDonalds

Arby's

Local Restaurant (Burger Stand at the Casbah)

Burger King

Chik-Fil-A

Homemade

Popeyes

Here is the list in reverse order:

Slim Chicken($4)

This sandwich was altogether inferior. The bread was soft and mushy. The breading on the fried chicken was thin, and had no crunch that is expected of a fried chicken sandwich. There was very little, if any sauce on the sandwich, and the pickles were overly moist(though not un-tasty). While it was fine sized and filling, it was not worth the price tag.

Raising Canes($4)

This sandwich is nothing more than slightly higher quality than Slim Chicken's. It offers the same cuts of chicken on very similar bread. The sandwich is roughly the same price and size. It does have lettuce instead of a pickle. However, the breading on the chicken was slightly superior. I also receieved more chicken than on Slim Chicken's, but it is more likely that the difference was purely a result of probability of the sandwiches I was given.

Sonic($2)

It appears to me that Sonic is hoping to emulate Popeyes to the best of their ability, but it is very apparent that they are not interested in spending more to reach Popeye's unmatched quality. While Sonic uses the same bread, a similar sauce, and pickes as a topping(like Popeyes), it is hard to overstate how bland the fried chicken was. I could not always tell where the bread ended and the chicken started, as it all tasted like bread. That being said, for $2, I can't complain too much.

McDonalds($1)

Considering it is on the dollar menu, it is hard to critique since that you are getting a reasonable ammount of chicken and bread for that price is already worth something. At one point many years ago, it was a phenomenal sandwich, with good breaded chicken, lettuce, mayo, and maybe even a tomato if you were lucky. Now, it is breaded chicken and lettuce on a bun. The bun is squished, and the lettuce's lack of crunch removes any textural components.

Arby's($4)

I spent a good chunk of time debating whether or not Arby's deserved to be above or below McDonalds, as the sandwich is quite similar. On one hand, it was quite a bit nicer, with fresher tasting chicken and the additional topping of a tomato. On the other hand, it is four times the price. I ultimately decided to rank it based on taste, texture, and enjoyment rather than cost, though it might be true that 4 chicken sandwiches from McDonalds would be a better meal than one Arby's sandwich.

Local Restaurant (Burger Stand at the Casbah)($10)

A local restaurant favorite of mine in the Burger Stand in Downtown Lawrence, Kansas. It is large, comes with avacado, romaine lettuce(a welcome change to the iceburg that is so common), tomato, grilled chicken, and a variety of sauces to quench any needs. The bread is high quality, and it is clear the chicken was cooked immediately before serving. The reason it is not higher on this list is purely due to the price tag. As you will see, there are sandwiches that are as good for a fraction of the price.

Burger King($3)

The fact that Burger King's chicken sandwich dwarfs McDonalds came as a surprise to me. It is quite a bit more expensive, though I do feel $3 as satisfied when I eat this, so I believe it justified. It has a spicy variety, which I believe is some chili powder that is mixed into the chicken breading, is much larger, and has more toppings. Namely, lettuce, tomato, and a reasonable ammount of mayo. There is a Burger King in almost any city in the world, so it quite easy to come by.

Chick-Fil-A($4)

This sandwich mirrors Popeyes, the winner of this list(spoiler alert!), though it is considerably smaller. In addition, I found my sandwich to be a little bit drier, and subsequently it took a quite a bit longer to eat. There are also questions on whether or not you support eating a Chick-Fil-A, considering their past and maybe present ties with anti-LGBT groups. While I don't want to take that into consideration of the quality of their sandwiches, you may feel less comfortable choosing to eat here for those reasons, so I think it's important to mention.

Homemade($3)

Fry chicken thighs using a classic 3-stage battering situation, make your favorite special sauce(usually some combination of mayo, ketchup, and mustard, along with a special twist like pickle juice), choose one or two toppings(I do tomato and spinch), and throw them on a toasted bun. It's an excellent sandwich, because you made it, and controlled almost every variable for your personal taste. However, it requires quite a bit of work, maybe 30 minutes or so to get all the ingridents prepped, fry the chicken, assemble the sandwich, and eat. In addition, if you are using high quality ingridents, the prices can get a little higher, especially if you only want one or two sanwiches. That prevents it from topping the list.

Popeyes($4)

This is a perfect sandwich. It far outclasses anything I can make at home. The bread is light, fluffy, flavorful, and maybe even buttered. The breading on the chicken is unbeliavly crispy and full. If you get the spicy version of the sandwich, you can taste paprika, cayenne, and chili powder. The chicken thigh they place on the bread is comically large, spilling out of the bread. The pickles and sauce are a perfect sweet and sour combo to pierce through the richness. If you have a popeyes and have not tried their chicken sandwich, I unequvically believe you are missing out.