Dining Duo takes the chicken sandwich challenge

Popeye’s, Chick-fil-A, Wendy’s in a taste bud battle ‘The Dining Duo’

Special to the Times Back in the summer, if you recall, Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen debuted its first-ever chicken sandwich in that growing fast food market niche and sparked a cute Twitter battle with Chick-fil-A over who has the best chicken sandwich.

Popeye’s new chicken sandwich sold out in 15 days and it actually sparked fights in the parking lot among customers trying to get their hands on one. It returned on Nov. 5 and this time Popeye’s insists that it won’t run out again.

Chick-fil-A, which is now the third-largest fast-food chain in the country, fired back that its bun+chicken+ pickles is still the “original” chicken sandwich. Not to be outdone, Wendy’s Tweeted that they were enjoying watching the two rival chains fighting over who has the “second best” chicken sandwich.

The Dining Duo decided to take the chicken sandwich challenge to see which of the three we liked best. “Cat” and I attempted to try this a few months ago, but Popeye’s had not brought it back on the menu yet.

I know I promised that “Cat” would make an appearance, but Christmas family responsibilities got in the way and she was unable to take the challenge. She has promised though to join me for lunch and dinner in Germantown soon.

Instead, I enlisted the help of “Poison Ivy,” who used her plant toxins and mind-controlling pheromones to get me to let her come along on this Dining Duo excursion.

We started with Chickfil- A. Believe it or not, “Ivy” had never been to Chick-fil-A before. She’s not much on eating fried foods. She enjoyed her first bite, noting that it had a nice pickle-y flavor.

Chick-fil-A’s sandwiches are marinated in pickle brine, served on a toasted bun with two pickles. “It’s very good,” Ivy said. “It’s very juicy. It’s definitely not a chopped and pressed chicken patty and not very fast food-y. It’s more like one that you would get at a sit down restaurant.”

I agree that Chick-fil-A has a good taste to it. I’ve had it before. This time, thankfully, it wasn’t too greasy. It’s a good chicken sandwich, better than the frozen ones at McDonald’s, but not my favorite.

Next up was Wendy’s country-style chicken sandwich. I expected this to be the weakest of the three. I expected it to be a small frozen patty. I was pleasantly surprised. It was a nice plump piece of chicken. It had a good taste to it, but it still tastes…I don’t know, fast food-y, but a higher quality fast food taste. I really liked it. “Ivy” also agreed that it has a good taste, but noted “it’s not the quality of the Chick-fil-A.

Popeye’s was the one I was the most curious about. I love Popeye’s.

It’s my favorite place to go for fried chicken. But I wondered it if really could top Chick-fil-A. They are the “original” after all.

One thing we both noticed right away was how big the chicken is on these sandwiches. It looks like a big piece of breaded fried chicken. “It’s massive,” Ivy said. “It’s good. I like it. It is more old-fashioned tasting.”

Popeye’s sandwich is served on a toasted brioche bun and also has pickles. I’m not a big pickle fan on my sandwiches, but the quality of Popeye’s pickles are far superior to the ones on Chick-fil-A.

“These are better pickles,” Ivy agreed.”

“Ivy” and I both agreed though, that Popeye’s chicken sandwich doesn’t taste like what you expect a chicken sandwich to taste like. It tastes, well, like fried chicken on a bun. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it. But I guess I am used to a frozen chicken patty that you get at most fast food places.

We also sampled the spicy Popeye’s chicken sandwich. I also love Popeye’s spicy chicken, but it doesn’t love me back so I have had to lay off it because it kills my stomach.

“Ivy” noted right away that yes, this sucker is VERY hot and spicy, the kind of burn your fingers spicy. “Just licking my fingers made my mouth burn,” “Ivy” said.

At the end of our little taste test, “Ivy” and I compared notes and assigned a rank to each one.

IVY: 1. Chick-fil-A — “I like that mild pickle taste,” “Ivy” said.

2. Popeye’s — “It’s very thick,” “Ivy” commented. “It doesn’t taste like a chicken sandwich. It tastes like fried chicken.”

3. Wendy’s — “This was my least favorite,” “Ivy” said. “But it is still good.

It looks more like frozen chicken though.”

BAT: 1. Wendy’s — I know this is a shocker.

But it is really good. It was totally unexpected. I thought the quality was good and despite a fast food taste, it still tastes like country style chicken.”

2. Popeye’s — Yes, it tastes like fried chicken, but the quality is top notch. I even ate my pickles.

3. Chick-fil-A — I like Chick-fil-A okay. But honestly, it is greasy and it’s just not my favorite. I love the waffle fries though.