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By Hayden Ronga

Who makes the BEST chicken sandwich?

Popeyes chicken sandwich. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons user Daiisyy.

Over the last couple of weeks, I made my quest around town to five different fast-food restaurants. I was on the hunt to crown the ultimate chicken sandwich and end this debate once and for all. The heavyweight of them all, Chick-fil-A, was the favored frontrunner going into this journey. The other four I tried—Popeyes, McDonald’s, Bojangles, and Cookout—all followed behind. Follow along to find out which chicken sandwich takes the title “Best!”

The first sandwich I tried was the Popeyes chicken sandwich. This sandwich was cooked very thoroughly, and I could taste the chicken’s seasoning, which had a distinct flavor to it. I thought I was getting the same flavor on each bite, which definitely made for a better sandwich. The Popeyes chicken sandwich came in at $3.99, which, in my opinion, was a decent price for the quality of the sandwich.

I next tried McDonald’s chicken sandwich, which was the most surprising sleeper of them all. I was not expecting it to be anything special, due to the fact that I have not heard too much about it. The sandwich was about the average price compared to the others, coming in at $3.90, but I thought it was flavorful and had a definite taste to it. The bun was a bit hard, which was the only downside to this sandwich.

McDonald’s chicken sandwich. Photo credit: Wikimedia user Checkingfax.

Bojangles and Cookout were more of a disappointment to me as a customer, because of the service and the food coming out cold. These two sandwiches were at the bottom of the list simply because the buns were cold, and the quality of the chicken just was not close to the others. 

Coming into this, I had always thought that the original Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich was by far the best on the market, and I turned out to be right. The Chick-fil-A sandwich had just the right touch to it. The perfect sandwich, the proportions were just right, the bread was lightly buttered and cooked to the exact temperature, where it was warm but not too hot. The packaging is clean, and the price is remarkably low, at $3.05. It seemed to be the lowest price out of all the sandwiches and the “best bang for your buck.”

As a Chick-fil-a regular, I sometimes eat the sandwich while occupied with something, such as doing homework or eating with friends or family, so I never have really gotten the opportunity to only focus on the sandwich alone while eating it. It surprised me very much how I could really taste all the different ingredients in it, whether it was the bun, pickles, or chicken. The original chicken sandwich is what the brand is most known for, and is by far my personal favorite item on the menu. The reason that this sandwich is superior and better than all the other ones I tried was that it was at a temperature that was not scorching hot, but not cold either. It was warm and tasty on every bite.

Chick-fil-A sandwich. Photo courtesy of Yelp.

Unrelated to the sandwich itself, the service at Chick-fil-A was by far the best, and they always go out of their way to be polite to the customer. Jack Henry (‘22) says, “Chick-fil-A is my go-to spot for a chicken sandwich because they have great service, and the food always comes out fresh. Many people that I have asked, agreed with me saying that their favorite sandwich is the Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich.” Walker Clemans (’22) states that, “the Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich is usually my go-to, because it is scrumptious.”

So, after a thorough and concise review of each of the five sandwiches, we have ourselves a winner. The Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich takes home the grand prize! 

Featured image courtesy of McDonald’s.