ADub weighs in on Chicken Sandwich wars | The Boneyard

ADub weighs in on Chicken Sandwich wars

August_West

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I know you have all been waiting patiently for this, but the sample size needed to be taken to bring you the most informed information possible (think of me as the anti-chief of Chicken sandos) has grown exponentially in last 2 years as everyone and their brother in the quick service food industry has seemingly daily additions to be considered. As it stands in July 2021, I haven't yet had them all, but I've had more than enough to weigh in on the winners and losers.

So lets get down to business here.

Let's first tip our cap to Chick-Fil-A they were the first to make serious hay serving Chicken Sandwiches which other fast food outlets then tried to mimic the success of. They get credit for that, and their Sandwich is very good. But is it the best available right now? No it's not.

Here are the Sandwiches Ive sampled in the midst of the "wars"

Chick-Fil-A
Mcdonalds
Popeyes
Burger King
Wendy's
Zaxby's
Sonic
Arby's
Shake Shack
KfC
and Ill bonus throw a couple Local places in:
Bird Code
Haven Hot chicken


Lets get something out of the way here, because you are all expecting me to pimp Arby's on this. But they don't have the saying "Always trust content from Adub" around here for nothing. We give honest reviews here. So I'm here to tell you that Arby's was near the bottom of the list here on my Chicken sandwich review. The only one decisively worse was sonic. And Arby's and McDonalds is a tossup for who is better. They were both pedestrian barely adequate offerings in this lane.

Also, lets get Bird Code and Hot Haven off the dais here. They were both very good sandwiches. No problems there. Enjoyable. A little pricey for the category. However, I count at least 5 and possibly 7 of the National chain offerings as being better. Sorry hipsters.
I will not rank them in this list.



Without further ado here is the ranking list.


1)KFC
2)Zaxby's
3) Popeyes
4) (TIE!) Chick Fil-a and Burger King
6)Wendy's
7) Shake Shack
8)McDonalds
9) Arby's
10) Sonic

I will go on later in the thread to comment on the "why's" but lets get some discussion going.

Also interested in other peoples reviews, as I haven't been out west in a while and haven't been able to try the Jack in a Box and Carls jr. offerings yet.
 

GemParty

Co~host of the Sliders & Curveballs Podcast
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Hey August. I love the YardBird on Craftbirds food truck. Often located parked at local breweries & GastroPark Weha.

They are also opening a brick & mortar in Newington this Fall.

Order YardBird & Fried Mac Cheese Bites, sea salt and garlic dip. Thank me later.
 
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My initial reaction is

Projectile Vomit GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY


but I'm curious to hear the "whys." Granted, of the places on your list I've only had the chicken sandwiches at Chick Fil-a and Shake Shack but your rankings strike me as controversial, to say the least. Hate on hipsters all you want but you can't deny that when they commit to a niche they do it all the way - I can think of 5 or 6 places out here that I'd go to before I thought about buying a chicken sandwich from any of the places on your list.
 

August_West

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My initial reaction is

Projectile Vomit GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY


but I'm curious to hear the "whys." Granted, of the places on your list I've only had the chicken sandwiches at Chick Fil-a and Shake Shack but your rankings strike me as controversial, to say the least. Hate on hipsters all you want but you can't deny that when they commit to a niche they do it all the way - I can think of 5 or 6 places out here that I'd go to before I thought about buying a chicken sandwich from any of the places on your list.
Certainly there is a jack in the box close to you. Let’s get some on site reporting!

Also as far as hipsters, sure, but sometimes they try too hard on simple things and you end up with overwrought stuff.
 
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had 2 spicies from chik fil a yesterday for the first time in over a year and i'm paying for it this morning.
 
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Haven't had any of them but heard the Burger King one is great. They're owned by the same company as Popeye's so it's probably the same sandwich.
 

nomar

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I know you have all been waiting patiently for this, but the sample size needed to be taken to bring you the most informed information possible (think of me as the anti-chief of Chicken sandos) has grown exponentially in last 2 years as everyone and their brother in the quick service food industry has seemingly daily additions to be considered. As it stands in July 2021, I haven't yet had them all, but I've had more than enough to weigh in on the winners and losers.

So lets get down to business here.

Let's first tip our cap to Chick-Fil-A they were the first to make serious hay serving Chicken Sandwiches which other fast food outlets then tried to mimic the success of. They get credit for that, and their Sandwich is very good. But is it the best available right now? No it's not.

Here are the Sandwiches Ive sampled in the midst of the "wars"

Chick-Fil-A
Mcdonalds
Popeyes
Burger King
Wendy's
Zaxby's
Sonic
Arby's
Shake Shack
KfC
and Ill bonus throw a couple Local places in:
Bird Code
Haven Hot chicken


Lets get something out of the way here, because you are all expecting me to pimp Arby's on this. But they don't have the saying "Always trust content from Adub" around here for nothing. We give honest reviews here. So I'm here to tell you that Arby's was near the bottom of the list here on my Chicken sandwich review. The only one decisively worse was sonic. And Arby's and McDonalds is a tossup for who is better. They were both pedestrian barely adequate offerings in this lane.

Also, lets get Bird Code and Hot Haven off the dais here. They were both very good sandwiches. No problems there. Enjoyable. A little pricey for the category. However, I count at least 5 and possibly 7 of the National chain offerings as being better. Sorry hipsters.
I will not rank them in this list.



Without further ado here is the ranking list.


1)KFC
2)Zaxby's
3) Popeyes
4) (TIE!) Chick Fil-a and Burger King
6)Wendy's
7) Shake Shack
8)McDonalds
9) Arby's
10) Sonic

I will go on later in the thread to comment on the "why's" but lets get some discussion going.

Also interested in other peoples reviews, as I haven't been out west in a while and haven't been able to try the Jack in a Box and Carls jr. offerings yet.

I couldn't help but reading this all in this guy's voice

 

storrsroars

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I'm not even a casual fan of franchise chicken sandwiches, thus have no opinion, so I'll just sit here and be entertained.

But I will say that American society's ongoing infatuation with tenders/nuggets/"boneless" wings (and wings in general) as legitimate dinner options is a harbinger of the collapse of civilization, which I now expect by 2050 at the latest.
 
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I know you have all been waiting patiently for this, but the sample size needed to be taken to bring you the most informed information possible (think of me as the anti-chief of Chicken sandos) has grown exponentially in last 2 years as everyone and their brother in the quick service food industry has seemingly daily additions to be considered. As it stands in July 2021, I haven't yet had them all, but I've had more than enough to weigh in on the winners and losers.

So lets get down to business here.

Let's first tip our cap to Chick-Fil-A they were the first to make serious hay serving Chicken Sandwiches which other fast food outlets then tried to mimic the success of. They get credit for that, and their Sandwich is very good. But is it the best available right now? No it's not.

Here are the Sandwiches Ive sampled in the midst of the "wars"

Chick-Fil-A
Mcdonalds
Popeyes
Burger King
Wendy's
Zaxby's
Sonic
Arby's
Shake Shack
KfC
and Ill bonus throw a couple Local places in:
Bird Code
Haven Hot chicken


Lets get something out of the way here, because you are all expecting me to pimp Arby's on this. But they don't have the saying "Always trust content from Adub" around here for nothing. We give honest reviews here. So I'm here to tell you that Arby's was near the bottom of the list here on my Chicken sandwich review. The only one decisively worse was sonic. And Arby's and McDonalds is a tossup for who is better. They were both pedestrian barely adequate offerings in this lane.

Also, lets get Bird Code and Hot Haven off the dais here. They were both very good sandwiches. No problems there. Enjoyable. A little pricey for the category. However, I count at least 5 and possibly 7 of the National chain offerings as being better. Sorry hipsters.
I will not rank them in this list.



Without further ado here is the ranking list.


1)KFC
2)Zaxby's
3) Popeyes
4) (TIE!) Chick Fil-a and Burger King
6)Wendy's
7) Shake Shack
8)McDonalds
9) Arby's
10) Sonic

I will go on later in the thread to comment on the "why's" but lets get some discussion going.

Also interested in other peoples reviews, as I haven't been out west in a while and haven't been able to try the Jack in a Box and Carls jr. offerings yet.
Only tried the Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, and KFC, but have to agree with your ranking. Chick-fil-A took off as the pinnacle when they expanded outside of their original territory, but the downside of that is once they achieved cultural phenomenon status, all the other players realized the barrier to entry here is pretty damn low. Used to be only Chick-Fil-A, but really have no reason to go now as those two taste better with fewer negative feelings for having shopped there.
 
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Certainly there is a jack in the box close to you.

See the puking gif above. jack in the box is tough. when i was a young lawyer working until the middle of the night I'd stop there on occasion on the way home since they're open 24 hours and i never once did not feel disgusted with myself later.
 
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My initial reaction is

Projectile Vomit GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY


but I'm curious to hear the "whys." Granted, of the places on your list I've only had the chicken sandwiches at Chick Fil-a and Shake Shack but your rankings strike me as controversial, to say the least. Hate on hipsters all you want but you can't deny that when they commit to a niche they do it all the way - I can think of 5 or 6 places out here that I'd go to before I thought about buying a chicken sandwich from any of the places on your list.
LA has a surprisingly amazing fried chicken scene that is finally spreading down to SD
 

ClifSpliffy

surf's up
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I know you have all been waiting patiently for this, but the sample size needed to be taken to bring you the most informed information possible (think of me as the anti-chief of Chicken sandos) has grown exponentially in last 2 years as everyone and their brother in the quick service food industry has seemingly daily additions to be considered. As it stands in July 2021, I haven't yet had them all, but I've had more than enough to weigh in on the winners and losers.

So lets get down to business here.

Let's first tip our cap to Chick-Fil-A they were the first to make serious hay serving Chicken Sandwiches which other fast food outlets then tried to mimic the success of. They get credit for that, and their Sandwich is very good. But is it the best available right now? No it's not.

Here are the Sandwiches Ive sampled in the midst of the "wars"

Chick-Fil-A
Mcdonalds
Popeyes
Burger King
Wendy's
Zaxby's
Sonic
Arby's
Shake Shack
KfC
and Ill bonus throw a couple Local places in:
Bird Code
Haven Hot chicken


Lets get something out of the way here, because you are all expecting me to pimp Arby's on this. But they don't have the saying "Always trust content from Adub" around here for nothing. We give honest reviews here. So I'm here to tell you that Arby's was near the bottom of the list here on my Chicken sandwich review. The only one decisively worse was sonic. And Arby's and McDonalds is a tossup for who is better. They were both pedestrian barely adequate offerings in this lane.

Also, lets get Bird Code and Hot Haven off the dais here. They were both very good sandwiches. No problems there. Enjoyable. A little pricey for the category. However, I count at least 5 and possibly 7 of the National chain offerings as being better. Sorry hipsters.
I will not rank them in this list.



Without further ado here is the ranking list.


1)KFC
2)Zaxby's
3) Popeyes
4) (TIE!) Chick Fil-a and Burger King
6)Wendy's
7) Shake Shack
8)McDonalds
9) Arby's
10) Sonic

I will go on later in the thread to comment on the "why's" but lets get some discussion going.

Also interested in other peoples reviews, as I haven't been out west in a while and haven't been able to try the Jack in a Box and Carls jr. offerings yet.
top shelf. A #1 insight and musings. outstanding work. impressive deployment of the third person vernacular. extra special super good content. of course, i rarely eat chicken of any preparation, but for a seasonal (annual?) order of fried chicken, yet i hear that some folks do enjoy bird flavored cotton, so there's that.
excelsior! carry on ....
 

RichZ

Fort the ead!
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I used to love Popeye's Fried Chicken in general. But I stopped at the one next to the Dock Shopping Ctr in Stratford on the way home from the lower Housatonic last fall. Ordered a bunch of chicken to take home and snuck a chicken sandwich into the order, too. Can't speak for the sandwich, because I couldn't/wouldn't eat any of it after taking a bite of a breast and ended up with a mouthful of pink and spongy, not nearly cooked chicken. Wife cut open another piece, and it was more of the same. I'm of the one strike and you're history school when it comes to dangerously bad food. The sandwich went into the trash along with the rest of it. I complained via their website. They send me 2 $5 coupons. Threw 'em away.
 
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I'm not even a casual fan of franchise chicken sandwiches, thus have no opinion, so I'll just sit here and be entertained.

But I will say that American society's ongoing infatuation with tenders/nuggets/"boneless" wings (and wings in general) as legitimate dinner options is a harbinger of the collapse of civilization, which I now expect by 2050 at the latest.
I was at one of my locals the other night and an order of wings was $28, that's the real harbinger of the collapse of civilization.
 
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Ever liked the chicken sandwiches from any of these places that I’ve tried, but recently I’ve tried Mc Donald’s and Burger King. Fell in love with Mc Donald’s chicken and Burger Kings was horrible. Really surprised I like the Mc Donald’s one as much as I do because I don’t like chicken all that much and in the past the old versions were straight garbage. Surprised it’s so far down the list. Gotta try the others listed before it. Didn’t like Popeyes because it was to thick, and Wendy’s and chic fil-a was ok. Of those Mc Donald’s new chicken was easily the best to me.
 

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