The Great Chicken Sandwich War of Summer 2019

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33anda3rd
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The Great Chicken Sandwich War of Summer 2019

Post by 33anda3rd »

If you're not hip, quick backstory.

Popeye's has launched a chicken sandwich, in Classic and Spicy versions.

People are posting pics online of very long lines.

There's already been a New Yorker thinkpiece.

The LGBTQ community is way on board, since Chik-fil-a is run by evil evangelical jerks.

There's a small back and forth on Twitter with Popeye's dragging Chik-fil-a and Wendy's. I went yesterday, at 3:15PM figuring I'd miss both lunch and dinner rushes. The drive-thru line was backed out to the street. The parking lot was full. I parked and went in. Probably 15 people in line. I looked around. Every table occupied, all but 1-2 of them with people not eating but waiting for their food. Took me close to 15 minutes to get to the front of the line and order. Everyone was getting the sandwiches. I got the classic. It was a C+ / B-. The New Yorker piece raved about breading that doesn't crumble off--mine did. It swooned over the pickles--there were only 2 on mine, and they were stacked one on top of the other, so I had to reassemble the sandwich by hand for proper pickle distribution. It was a bit over-sauced, lots of mayo. The bun was great, soft and easy to squish down a bit with a proper two-handed sandwich grip. The chicken was tender, moist, in line with Popeye's in general. I'm assuming that the meh overall quality is due to two things. 1. Popeye's is inconsistent as a rule, and 2. my local Logan Square Popeye's is not accustomed to getting absolutely crushed for literally the duration of their open hours. I look forward to going back after the madness calms down to see if it's better.

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InvincibleCakeEater
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Re: The Great Chicken Sandwich War of Summer 2019

Post by InvincibleCakeEater »

Wendy’s is pretty damn good.

[expletive] chick fil a

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go birds
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Re: The Great Chicken Sandwich War of Summer 2019

Post by go birds »

moving this one to politics because thats exactly where this thread is going

besides...the right answer to the "chicken sandwich debate" is mrs. winners anyways

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Re: The Great Chicken Sandwich War of Summer 2019

Post by Fat Strat »

I managed to get a spicy chicken sandwich at Popeyes last week and it was better than Chick-fil-a’s. Pickles were excellent, better and a different variety than CfA. Also size is the biggest difference, CFA sandwiches have gotten incrementally smaller over the years.

The family has gotten into the whole debate and we planned to get Popeyes sandwiches after church to settle the debate, but our store was out. They were also out of Cole slaw and small cup lids... so they were clearly unprepared for the heavy increase in volume. We will try again next week.

Both have a good chicken sandwich and both are better than Wendy’s, but right now, I will give Popeyes the nod on quality and taste and CFA the nod on customer service, which is kind of their deal anyway.

AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: The Great Chicken Sandwich War of Summer 2019

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

Ha. I was going to start this same thread and largely agree with 33.

CFA has always been our go to when we need a quick meal because of price, location, and mainly because the kids will eat it.

The guys I play basketball with brought it to my attention that Popeyes has been blowing up lately because their new chicken sandwich is awesome. A couple guys went on to say that it was better than CFA, some disagreed.

So yesterday I went to popeyes that was really busy. Likewise, they were out of lids for the small cups but they at least had the sandwiches. Got 3 classics with nothing on them for the wife and kids, one classic with the fixins (mayo/pickles), and one spicy with the fixins.

I understand why people like them. They're definitely bigger/more filling than the CFA sandwiches. The taste on the plain sandwiches was really not that great. The pickles and mayo are needed to balance out all the breading.

Looking at taste alone, I'd say a fully loaded Popeyes sandwich is comparable to CFA with pickles. CFA has better breading but way less of it. No real argument either way, they're both fine. CFA plain >> Popeyes plain.

But, looking at all the other stuff, Popeyes is definitely bigger and has a ton more breading which I'm not a huge fan of. Some of the sandwiches had to be trimmed because the breading was so thick there were bites that was breading/bun only. And, their breading isn't all that great. Hence the need for the mayo and pickles. But, CFA has been decreasing their portions for seemingly forever. They're basically a slider at this point. It takes two sandwiches to really satiate a hunger which is ridiculous.

After we finished, both kids had to take [expletive]. My wife didn't feel good. And, we went for a walk to kind of help digest. If there was a story by pictures, the pictures would have been a lot of food at the dinner table, two kids [expletive] next to each other in the bathroom as the little one is using a training toilet. Neither cared they were [expletive] next to the other one because they had to go so bad. Then, the bloated lot of us went for a walk.

All in all, whatever. To each their own.

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Radbird
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Re: The Great Chicken Sandwich War of Summer 2019

Post by Radbird »

Closest Popeye’s is 24 miles from us. CFA is 25. Wendy’s is 18.

Never been to CFA. Love Popeye’s but have only had their fried chicken. Only burgers at Wendy’s.

So I am unable to add anything of value other than this dynamic post.

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Tambourine Man
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Re: The Great Chicken Sandwich War of Summer 2019

Post by Tambourine Man »

I almost never go to Popeye's due to crowds. Exactly the situation 33 described. So when I do go, it's after 9 PM and they're still somewhat busy at that time.

Anyway, I went with the spicy chicken sandwich and was overall pleased. Pickle/sauce distribution was uniformly good. I've never had CFA for comparison, but I would definitely go back for the chicken sandwich.

Now let's talk about their sides...Holy hell do they make a killing on those. Like $9 for the large red beans and rice. Jesus.

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Re: The Great Chicken Sandwich War of Summer 2019

Post by thrill »

Fat Strat wrote:I managed to get a spicy chicken sandwich at Popeyes last week and it was better than Chick-fil-a’s. Pickles were excellent, better and a different variety than CfA.
Agree. The regular isn't quite as good as the spicy, but the quality of the chicken breast and the crispyness of the breading was better than CFA. Bun was wayyy better.

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Re: The Great Chicken Sandwich War of Summer 2019

Post by Popeye_Card »

Wendy's needs to be removed from this debate and replaced with Arby's, who have surprisingly good chicken sandwiches.

I've not had the Popeye's sandwich yet. I like CFA's spicy chicken, but I don't like that the sandwich falls apart about halfway through eating it because of the crappy bun.

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Re: The Great Chicken Sandwich War of Summer 2019

Post by heyzeus »

I used to make fun of social media communications jobs, but some social media coordinator just made Popeye's many millions of dollars just by being snarky about a chicken sandwich on Twitter.

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