Debating the best chicken sandwich in our area

Popeyes,

The new Popeyes mouth-watering chicken sandwich has been the center of publicity ever since it came out on Aug 12. The real question between fans of both Popeyes and Chick-Fil-A is which restaurant has the better sandwich.

Chick-Fil-A known, for the “Original Chicken Sandwich” now has some competition. For only $3.89, a piece of chicken seasoned with a spicy blend of peppers, hand breaded outside, and served on a toasted, buttered bun with dill pickle chips can be purchased.

The Popeyes sandwich at $3.99, 10 cents more than Chick-Fil-A, sold about 1,000 chicken sandwiches per store daily. Sandwich sales also accounted for about 30 percent of Popeyes sales in the time it was available, while store traffic doubled.

Similar to the Chick-Fil-A sandwich, Popeyes includes a sweet brioche bun with a fried chicken breast, spicy mayo, and pickles. For weeks on end, lines went out the door with eager customers who could not wait to lay their hands on this popular sandwich.

Popeyes officially sold out of the chicken sandwich not much after the release, announcing on, Aug 27 that the high demand for the sandwich led to it being sold out in just two weeks of being on the market.

The difference in price itself has made some like Chick-Fil-A better. Junior Keyan Roshan said, “Personally the Chick-Fil-A sandwich is better. It’s cooked longer, it’s also a little bit cheaper than the Popeyes sandwich.”

Chick-Fil-A is known to have nicer and cleaner restaurants compared to fast food restaurants around the country. Freshman Matt Nyanjo said, “Chick-Fil-A is much cleaner than Popeyes, the difference in the cleanliness itself makes me enjoy Chick-Fil-A more. It’s also much bigger and more updated compared to Popeyes.”

While the restaurant may be nicer, Popeyes is better quality and stands out with the sweeter taste. Sophomore Jaimie Morris said, “The flavor of the Popeyes bun is much sweeter. Its very different and I like it better than the taste of the Chick-Fil-A sandwich.”

The sandwich size is much larger than Chick-Fil-A’s and with a little difference in calories, Popeyes is worth eating. Senior Haley Schienberg said, “The Chick-Fil-A sandwich is smaller; Popeyes gives you more for what you pay for.”

Popeyes is the better choice out of the two, with the sweet bun, perfectly cooked chicken, bigger size and cheap price.

~Emma Hoffman
staff writer

Chick-Fil-A,

When you think of chicken, you think of Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-A has been filling stomachs with delicious chicken ever since it was founded in 1946. Their signature sandwich, the Chick-fil-A sandwich, is the Big Mac of the chicken sandwich world.

Popeyes has attempted to overthrow Chick-fil-A’s top dog status as the number one chicken sandwich. With Chick-fil-A raking in $3 billion in revenue last year according to Chick-Fil-A’s 2018 Franchise Disclosure Document, it’s no surprise Chick-fil-A still has a monopoly over the fried chicken market. That’s higher than any other restaurant that specializes in chicken sandwiches. Despite the recent controversies, they still reign supreme.

When Popeyes first debuted their new chicken sandwich, they were not prepared for so much interest in their product. Within 15 days of the sandwich’s nationwide release, they had already sold out, leaving the hungry and curious masses with Chick-fil-A as their chicken sandwich supplier.

Popeyes’ employees were overwhelmed by the hype of the sandwich, according to the Business & Human Rights Resource Center, with the understaffed restaurants prior to the craze only getting more crowded. Since the sandwich takes around 10 minutes, it’s difficult for the workers in the back to keep cranking out the sandwiches with the customers at the counter getting restless. People get impatient and cranky when it comes to food. Just two years ago customers chanted at “we want the sauce” at a McDonald’s in California, and took to social media with “#GiveUsTheSauce.”

Meanwhile, Chick-fil-A ranks as America’s number one restaurant for the fourth year in a row on the American Customer Satisfaction Index. It’s no surprise Chick-fil-A ranks high on this list with a score of 86, due to their polite staff, clean facilities, and well managed establishments. Whenever you see that red chicken logo, you know you’re in for a good experience.

USA Today ran a Twitter poll on Aug. 25, asking, “Better chicken sand wich?” which stirred up a whirlwind of opinions and arguments in the comments, but the final consensus ended up being Chick-fil-A with 54 percent of the vote. “I really like Chick-fil-A chicken,” sophomore Ben Christovich said.

Even other fast food restaurants on Twitter got in on the fun, with Popeyes tweeting “Sounds like someone just ate one of our biscuits. Cause y’all looking thirsty” in response to Wendy’s claiming their chicken sandwich as the best. This resulted in Wendy’s fighting back with “lol, guess that means the food’s as dry as the jokes.”

When tasted side-by-side, Chick-fil-A is clearly the winner in this debate. With just the right amount of breading, a slight pickle taste and a golden-brown bun, it’s no surprise that Chick-fil-A is a prominent icon in pop culture today.

~Luke Jordan
opinion editor