okay, folks! coming to you directly is another social media-driven taste test of the popeye’s chicken sandwich versus the chick-fil-a chicken sandwich. unless you have been living under a rock the past week, you have seen a reference somewhere in your day-to-day about popeye’s new chicken sandwich and all the talk it’s causing around town. well, i decided i could not simply sit aside and let the rest of america tell me which they liked better: i needed to try them for myself!
this past friday after work and a great workout, my big brother kyle so kindly first waited at popeye’s (for 30 minutes) to pick up a couple of their sandwiches and then swung by chick-fil-a to grab their sandwiches and some sides.
to make this taste test as fair as possible, we ordered both sandwiches plain, just chicken and bread, and split them down the middle so that we all (phillip, kyle, kari, and i) would have half of each.
popeye’s on the left, chick-fil-a on the right.
i started with a bite of the all familiar chick-fil-a sandwich, as i hadn’t had one in a while and wanted to re-familiarize myself with that distinct taste. after doing so, i bit right into the popeye’s sandwich and immediately noted how much crunchier their breading is than cfa’s. phillip agreed in that regard and also commented that the popeye’s sandwich is, in its own way, somehow lighter yet more buttery than cfa. i mean, if you look in the photo above, the popeye’s bun is glistening from the ceiling light. must be all that melted butter goodness!
with all this being said, the cfa sandwich still had plenty going for it, including its signature, somewhat sweet taste – maybe it’s all that peanut oil? and as i continued to munch through bite by bite, i personally concluded that i could easily see myself craving a popeye’s sandwich in one moment and then a cfa sandwich or nuggets in another. someone at the dinner table commented that they are “both in the same tier of good” just different, and i don’t think i could agree more. the popeye’s sandwich is an excellent fried chicken sandwich, while cfa does what it does well with a simple, classic chicken sandwich.
one excellent comment kari made was that the popeye’s sandwich makes her want to go try the popeye’s five bonafide big box to see how the fried chicken itself is. you know the one, don’t you? where the popeye’s spokeswoman annie is standing in the street and an oversized popeye’s box drops from the sky? well, in case you don’t know it, here it is for your viewing pleasure. 🙂
and if you don’t believe us after all this, then read this post that phillip found. it puts into additional words all you need to know about this 21st century fast food drama.
now, i mentioned that we also grabbed some sides from cfa, which included their classic waffle fries and also their new macaroni and cheese. yes! you read that correctly, mac’n’cheese at chick-fil-a! kyle was the first to try a spoonful and without any hesitation said it was “gangster” and that he wants it “pumped right into his veins.” that paints quite a picture, doesn’t it? phillip gave the mac’n’cheese a taste, too, and gave it an “a+” (and a thumbs up). i agree the mac’n’cheese is creamy and delicious and a fully unhealthy but completely satisfying accompaniment to a meal that, overall, was fun to share with my loved ones.
towards the end of dinner, i asked everyone which of all the dishes would they want for their last bite? phillip and kari both said the cfa french fries because there’s something irresistible about those thick waffle fries. kyle said the cfa sandwich. i myself said the popeye’s sandwich, but what do you know? my last bites were the mac’n’cheese! as for my nearly ten-month old nephew bode, he was at the table, too, and enjoyed some vanilla puffs for his last bites. can’t wait to take him for his first popeye’s before too long!
kelsey v 