I’ve tried various chicken sandwiches from the major fast food chains, and I find that Burger King’s is my favorite (the long one–they now call it the “original”). Mind you, if I’m in the mood for something mildly spicy, I’ll typically go with Wendy’s spicy chicken.
I also like Chik-fil-A’s sandwiches, but they are awfully expensive compared to the others.
One reason I like Burger King’s is the shape. For me, a long, narrow sandwich is easier to handle than a big round one. In addition, it’s a pretty good amount of food for the price.
For major national chains, I think the Wendy’s Spicy Chicken is probably my favorite.
If the slightly more upscale chains are brought into the discussion, the Buffalo chicken sandwich at Smashburger and the Hatch green chili chicken sandwich at The Habit are both really excellent.
I’ve heard others make the same comment but I’m not seeing it. I don’t eat at Burger King but I occasionally got to Wendy’s and McDonald’s at it looks to me like their chicken sandwiches are competitively priced with Chick-fil-A. If you go to Chick-fil-A around here and order the #1 combo which is a sandwich, drink, and waffle fries it will cost somewhere between $6-7.
Wendy’s Spicy Chicken is excellent, and it’s actually spicy, which isn’t usually the case at other places. Their Asiago Ranch Chicken Club is also good.
McDonalds’ chicken sandwiches are just passable. Their chicken is bland.
The Gold Rush Chicken Sandwich at Roy Rogers is chicken sandwich perfection IMO if you can get it. If you’re ever in the Mid-Atlantic and see a Roy’s, I highly recommend you stop in and get one of these (list of locations).
I’ve always like Burger King’s [original] chicken sandwich the best. I had a Chik-Fil-A one once, and felt I could have gotten as good out of the hot box at a gas station. Decades ago I tried the Carl’s Jr. chicken sandwich, but it was a char-broiled breast instead of being processed and fried. That’s not what I want in a chicken sandwich.
I can’t buy the good chicken sandwiches any more, but I always liked both Burger King and Chik-Fil-A. Maybe after SSM is the law of the land and we’ve annexed Canada I’ll be able to try them again and see if they are as good as I remember.
I think McDonald’s McChicken is “spicy.” I actually enjoy it, though. I think they just douse it in black pepper.
I think BK’s chicken sandwich (the cheapest one) is the exact same thing as McD’s but it isn’t doused in black pepper.
I’m not a big fan of the CFA. I don’t really like it more than McDonald’s or BK and it costs like, what, $3 compared to the others’ $1.
I actually prefer the clearly re-constituted “meat patty” of McD and BK with an even taste of chicken all the way through. CFA uses real whole chicken breasts so you’ve got like a thin piece of chicken at one end and a big thick hunk of dry-ass chicken at the other. I’m not saying that this is “better” (one could easily argue that CFA is clearly “better”) but I find the experience of eating a shitty over-processed patty to be much more enjoyable than eating a real chicken breast.
I do like the asiago chicken at Wendy’s. Expensive, and uses “real” chicken breast. But all the other toppings make it ok.
At one time (like, back in the 80s or 90s, when chicken sandwiches were first becoming a regular feature of fast food menus) my favorite fast food chicken sandwich was Hardees’s.
I don’t eat enough fast food chicken sandwiches nowadays to be able to offer an informed opinion.
Its Wikipedia article claims that “the current McChicken sandwich recipe is somewhat spicier than the original,” though that claim is flagged “citation needed.”
For grilled chicken I used to love the ones at BK but they changed them and I don’t like them as much as I used to. For crispy chicken I would agree with Wendy’s spicy Chicken. I would get the Asiago Ranch club with no ranch and a spicy chicken patty.
Not a big fan of McDonald’s chicken sandwiches but LOVE their Nuggets.
As a former Jack in the Box manager, I came to be rather fond of their spicy chicken sandwich, though I recommend that you ask for chipotle sauce instead of mayo.
I know they are all highly processed and formed to some degree, but I really disliked the uniform pressed patty ones- they remind me of high school cafeteria food and the “meat store” my relatives use to go when I was a kid to buy bulk frozen kid-friendly meat products. I’ve even managed to get my young kids away from that stuff.
Anything that’s the closest to taking a breast and dipping it in flour and/or light breading and throwing it in a fryer- would be my pick for “fried/crispy” ones. For grilled, it’s pretty easy to grill a chicken breast.
Back in the day, I used to like the Wendy’s crispy/spicy one. The preparation because very inconsistent though, a lot of burnt dried-out ones were served. I don’t remember if Popeyes had one, but I’m sure they’d be good.
Currently, I’d probably go for the Raising Canes Chicken Finger sandwich almost by default- haven’t had many other ones lately.
If I had a Zaxby’s nearby, I’d have a Chicken Club basket at least once per week. But I don’t live quite far enough South. So I have to go with the Popeye’s Chicken Po’Boy once per month or so.
Not long ago Wendy’s had a Tuscan Chicken sandwich that called my name occasionally.
I’m totally floored that people are saying they prefer the reconstituted patties to real chicken breast on a sandwich. I can’t bear that spongy McChicken, blech! I suspect that the Wendy’s ones are also reconstituted, just “built” better and extruded into a more realistic texture. I greatly prefer whole, original, natural chicken met on my sandwiches.
People like grease. A natural breast fillet doesn’t absorb as much tasty grease as the more porous formed patties, especially if it doesn’t have a coating.
I’m overly fond of Checkers’ Big Chicken Sandwich. The toasted “sourdough” (which really isn’t sourdough, it tastes like buttered Texas Toast) is what clinches it for me. Half the calories I need in a day, none of the nutrients. Awesome.
Has anyone tried the Tim Horton’s crispy chicken sandwich? I’m probably not curious enough to try it myself but keep seeing ads for it. I was pretty surprised they offer such a thing- they have had a lot of difficulty constructing breakfast sandwiches for me… or anything new/unusual that they advertise heavily. So, I’m not inclined to order anything there that’s not non-special coffee/donuts. Just thought maybe someone else had tried it and might have some feedback.