The official ATOT Fast Food discussion thread

[iCyborg]

I tried Popeye's chicken sandwich yesterday and it's not bad at all. KFC's Big Crunch used to have a thick and large chicken breast, it was the only reason I would go there from time to time, but they've really reduced its size over the years, can't remember the last time I went to KFC.
Popeye's sandwich is like the Big Crunch I remember - a well sized thick piece that looks like a chicken breast and not reconstituted chicken meat. Pretty satisfying.

Not a fan of the bun, feels a bit too sweet, and condiments could be better. I don't mind the spicy mayo, their spicy chicken is barely spicy, and while the mayo isn't very hot, it's a good step above the chicken. I was even pleasantly surprised, most general chain's hot is rather mild, so I've come to expect that, this at least qualifies for medium hot in my book.

I hope the chicken size isn't some sort of bait and switch, or if CDN $6 is some sort of promotional price, but for the moment, I find it a good value.
I'm in Canada, no CFA, Whataburger and what-not, and compared to what's here, it stacks up well.

 

[QueBert]

I tried Popeye's chicken sandwich yesterday and it's not bad at all. KFC's Big Crunch used to have a thick and large chicken breast, it was the only reason I would go there from time to time, but they've really reduced its size over the years, can't remember the last time I went to KFC.
Popeye's sandwich is like the Big Crunch I remember - a well sized thick piece that looks like a chicken breast and not reconstituted chicken meat. Pretty satisfying.

Not a fan of the bun, feels a bit too sweet, and condiments could be better. I don't mind the spicy mayo, their spicy chicken is barely spicy, and while the mayo isn't very hot, it's a good step above the chicken. I was even pleasantly surprised, most general chain's hot is rather mild, so I've come to expect that, this at least qualifies for medium hot in my book.

I hope the chicken size isn't some sort of bait and switch, or if CDN $6 is some sort of promotional price, but for the moment, I find it a good value.
I'm in Canada, no CFA, Whataburger and what-not, and compared to what's here, it stacks up well.

I had one when they 1st brought them back, and 4 or 5 times since. So it's been a good while, and they've all been about the same pretty good sized, the price has stayed the same too which shocks me. I expected it to jump $2-3 and shrink a quarter in size.

 

[Iron Woode]

I tried Popeye's chicken sandwich yesterday and it's not bad at all. KFC's Big Crunch used to have a thick and large chicken breast, it was the only reason I would go there from time to time, but they've really reduced its size over the years, can't remember the last time I went to KFC.
Popeye's sandwich is like the Big Crunch I remember - a well sized thick piece that looks like a chicken breast and not reconstituted chicken meat. Pretty satisfying.

Not a fan of the bun, feels a bit too sweet, and condiments could be better. I don't mind the spicy mayo, their spicy chicken is barely spicy, and while the mayo isn't very hot, it's a good step above the chicken. I was even pleasantly surprised, most general chain's hot is rather mild, so I've come to expect that, this at least qualifies for medium hot in my book.

I hope the chicken size isn't some sort of bait and switch, or if CDN $6 is some sort of promotional price, but for the moment, I find it a good value.
I'm in Canada, no CFA, Whataburger and what-not, and compared to what's here, it stacks up well.

I haven't tried it yet.

Harveys used to be great but have gone downhill.

We have a 5 Guys store here in London, Ontario. Never been there yet.

 

[JujuFish]

Okay, ATOT, I have to know.

Who makes the best chocolate chip cookie? Soft and chewy, get out of here with thin and crispy BS.

 

[Svnla]

Okay, ATOT, I have to know.

Who makes the best chocolate chip cookie? Soft and chewy, get out of here with thin and crispy BS.

I always like Chips Ahoy. Like both the regular and the "chewy" soft kind.

In other news, I am making a mental note to myself that I shall try to have the Popeye's spicy chicken sandwich this weekend. Will report back if I do have it.

 

[nakedfrog]

Chik-Fil-A's chocolate chip cookies are pretty great.

 

[sactoking]

Chips Ahoy.

 

[Kaido]

We'll see how McDonalds competes with Popeye's next month:

McDonald's adds three new sandwiches to compete in chicken wars

McDonald's is launching new sandwiches next month in an effort to win fast food's chicken war.

www.cnn.com

 

[Svnla]

View attachment 35908

I am not your child so you can shove it.

 

[MrSquished]

We'll see how McDonalds competes with Popeye's next month:

McDonald's adds three new sandwiches to compete in chicken wars

McDonald's is launching new sandwiches next month in an effort to win fast food's chicken war.

www.cnn.com

Didn't realize Wendy's updated their chicken sandwich as that article states. Have to try that. Pretty sure it won't compete with the best three of Popeye's, Chill fil a and shake shack.

 

[Svnla]

We'll see how McDonalds competes with Popeye's next month:

McDonald's adds three new sandwiches to compete in chicken wars

McDonald's is launching new sandwiches next month in an effort to win fast food's chicken war.

www.cnn.com

Interesting. I will put on hold my quest for the first taste ever of Popeye's spicy chicken when McD comes out with their new spicy chicken sandwich. Maybe a one on one comparison taste test? So far, I like Wendy's the most, subject to change if others are better.

I thought McD did have the Deluxe Chicken before and not new as in the article?

 

[shortylickens]

We'll see how McDonalds competes with Popeye's next month:

McDonald's adds three new sandwiches to compete in chicken wars

McDonald's is launching new sandwiches next month in an effort to win fast food's chicken war.

www.cnn.com

 

[Kaido]

Didn't realize Wendy's updated their chicken sandwich as that article states. Have to try that. Pretty sure it won't compete with the best three of Popeye's, Chill fil a and shake shack.

I tried Shake Shack's new one the other day, not bad. Spicy chicken sandwich. It's no Popeye's though! lol

The one I'm looking forward to the most is the retooled KFC one. If anyone can bring a real contender, my guess would be it's them.

 

[QueBert]

New JITB chicken sammich is really good. I don't like it as much as Popeyes, but it's 24 hours and a ton better than most fast food chicken sandwiches. The "new" one from Carl's is their regular chicken sandwich with bacon and ranch added. Ranch BLT chicken sandwich or something. It was okay. Jack's is actually new, new bun, new sauce and pickles. The sauce was some sort of Mayo with peppery shit added, not what I'd called spicy but it had a little extra to it. They're trying to go heads up with Popeyes. Carls probably had a bunch of inventory to offload so they made a generic ass sandwich with it. Jack also has some pretty good loaded Tots. Ranch + Cheese + Jalapeno ones. And uhh Bacon + cheese. They come in the little Chinese take out looking containers. And Jack's Stacked Bagel breakfast sandwich was pretty decent. 2 eggs, 2 slices of cheese, 2 pieces of ham and 2 strips of bacon or sausage. I ordered Bacon and of course mine had Sausage on it, but it was good and plenty big. Nothing like a probably 900 calorie sandwich for breakfast lol.

*looks it up* damn I was money on my guess, it's 880 calories + almost 1900mg of sodium, yeah not an ideal breakfast.

 

[IronWing]

Okay, ATOT, I have to know.

Who makes the best chocolate chip cookie? Soft and chewy, get out of here with thin and crispy BS.

For national brands, Matts.

Edit: F! They changed the recipe and no longer use butter. F' those guys.

Just buy the Toll House chips and follow the recipe on the back but use butter.

 

[Kaido]

Oh dang, Shake Shack is bringing Korean Fried Chicken to the game:

Shake Shack brings Korean Fried Chicken to fast-food's chicken sandwich wars | CNN Business

Shake Shack is kicking off 2021 by introducing a new contender to the fast food industry's already-crowded chicken sandwich wars.

www.cnn.com

They're not messing around with the price tho. $7.19 for Gochujang glaze, toasted sesame seeds and white kimchi coleslaw.

 

[MrSquished]

I tried Shake Shack's new one the other day, not bad. Spicy chicken sandwich. It's no Popeye's though! lol

The one I'm looking forward to the most is the retooled KFC one. If anyone can bring a real contender, my guess would be it's them.

I had the Shack Spicy chicken too the last time I was there. I do agree I think Popeye's is kinda better, especially when you factor in price, even with the spice coming from the mayo. I'm not sure how long Popeye's will give us such big juicy sandwiches with that amazing crust for 4 bucks. Price is gonna go up or sandwich is going to get smaller.

I gotta go to the city and try the Foku chicken thigh sandwich and a couple of the other top chicken sandwiches from non-chains though.

 

[MrSquished]

Oh dang, Shake Shack is bringing Korean Fried Chicken to the game:

Shake Shack brings Korean Fried Chicken to fast-food's chicken sandwich wars | CNN Business

Shake Shack is kicking off 2021 by introducing a new contender to the fast food industry's already-crowded chicken sandwich wars.

www.cnn.com

They're not messing around with the price tho. $7.19 for Gochujang glaze, toasted sesame seeds and white kimchi coleslaw.

That does sound really good. The best chicken wings I've ever had were a Gochujang based sauce chicken wings at this Korean fusion place. I always ordered them as an app even though I tried different entrees.

 

[nakedfrog]

New JITB chicken sammich is really good. I don't like it as much as Popeyes, but it's 24 hours and a ton better than most fast food chicken sandwiches. The "new" one from Carl's is their regular chicken sandwich with bacon and ranch added. Ranch BLT chicken sandwich or something. It was okay. Jack's is actually new, new bun, new sauce and pickles. The sauce was some sort of Mayo with peppery shit added, not what I'd called spicy but it had a little extra to it. They're trying to go heads up with Popeyes. Carls probably had a bunch of inventory to offload so they made a generic ass sandwich with it. Jack also has some pretty good loaded Tots. Ranch + Cheese + Jalapeno ones. And uhh Bacon + cheese. They come in the little Chinese take out looking containers. And Jack's Stacked Bagel breakfast sandwich was pretty decent. 2 eggs, 2 slices of cheese, 2 pieces of ham and 2 strips of bacon or sausage. I ordered Bacon and of course mine had Sausage on it, but it was good and plenty big. Nothing like a probably 900 calorie sandwich for breakfast lol.

*looks it up* damn I was money on my guess, it's 880 calories + almost 1900mg of sodium, yeah not an ideal breakfast.

Hm... I could pick up a Popeye's and a JitB chicken sandwich and do a side-by-side comparison since they're only a mile away from each other (and close to the house). I haven't tried either yet.
I had their loaded breakfast sandwich for the first time last week, it was pretty decent.

 

[JujuFish]

For national brands, Matts.

Edit: F! They changed the recipe and no longer use butter. F' those guys.

Just buy the Toll House chips and follow the recipe on the back but use butter.

Oh, I know I could make wonderful cookies if I took the time to put in the work. But, you see, I'm (1) lazy and (2) don't enjoy baking.

 

[Svnla]

Most expensive item on fast food places are??? Are these the ones?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/most-expensive-fast-food-items-200000351.html

.

 

[Kaido]

It's happening! Available nationwide by March 1st:

KFC Launches 'Best Chicken Sandwich Ever'

KFC wasn’t going to sit out the latest round of the quick-service chicken sandwich wars. Following 2021 news from McDonald’s and Shake Shack already, the chain introduced its “best chicken sandwich ever,” Thursday in select markets. The item, labeled simply the “KFC Chicken Sandwich,” will reach...

www.qsrmagazine.com

 

[Kaido]

Tried Shack Shack's new Korean chicken sandwich today. Meh. Boncon Chicken is 10x better. Shack Shake's version is like when you buy frozen PF Chang's food in the freezer section. Like, the idea of it is there, and it's OK, and it's hey, it's food, but it's not the true experience. Get their regular chicken sandwich with extra herbed buttermilk sauce instead is my recommendation! Can't remember if I mentioned it but I also tried their hot chicken sandwich the other day and it was OK. The regular one is still their best one. Popeye's still has the coveted number one spot in my book. Will be trying the McDonalds version & KFC version in the next month or so!

Also tried their new Black Sugar Vanilla Shake. Boy was that a weird experience. The best I can explain it is that the flavor was chasing after caramel and chasing after too-salty, but wasn't quite there yet. Like it wasn't quite caramel and it wasn't too salty but it was kind of close to being too salty. You keep drinking it to see if you can get the flavors you're tasting, but you never quite get there so you keep drinking it thinking you're going to hit that flavor wall of what you think it should taste like. Kind of like how the the Nutri-Matic from the Hitchhiker's book makes drinks that are almost but not quite like what you want them to be hahaha.

 

[Svnla]

It's happening! Available nationwide by March 1st:

KFC Launches 'Best Chicken Sandwich Ever'

KFC wasn’t going to sit out the latest round of the quick-service chicken sandwich wars. Following 2021 news from McDonald’s and Shake Shack already, the chain introduced its “best chicken sandwich ever,” Thursday in select markets. The item, labeled simply the “KFC Chicken Sandwich,” will reach...

www.qsrmagazine.com

That's it. My 2021 new year resolution. Have to do a first on hand taste test of all 3 new chicken sandwiches, Popeye's + McD + KFC. Will try to do all 3 of them at the same time.

 

[Kaido]

That's it. My 2021 new year resolution. Have to do a first on hand taste test of all 3 new chicken sandwiches, Popeye's + McD + KFC. Will try to do all 3 of them at the same time.

Try to hack the system by getting the sandwiches fresh, either get there at like 11am when they open or else modify the order so they can't give you a heat-lamp sandwich. Note that Shake Shack has 3 sandwiches now:

1. Chick'n Shack with herb buttermilk mayo
2. Hot Chick’n (I think this may have been phased out already as a limited-time deal, it was OK)
3. Korean-style Fried Chick'n

I recommend the Chick'n Shack with extra herb-buttermilk sauce. Popeyes has 2 sandwiches:

1. Chicken sandwich
2. Spicy chicken sandwich

I like both, but I usually get the spicy. McDonalds has 3 new sandwiches coming out February 24th nationwide:

1. Crispy Chicken Sandwich - “topped with crinkle cut pickles and served on a new toasted, buttered potato roll.”
2. Spicy Chicken Sandwich - “served with a Spicy Pepper Sauce and crinkle cut pickles on a toasted potato roll.”
3. Deluxe Chicken Sandwich - topped with “shredded lettuce, Roma tomatoes and mayo.”

I will do my American duty & try all 3 haha! KFC will have 2 options available nationwide by the end of February:

1. Extra-crispy chicken filet placed on a buttered brioche bun and topped with crispier, thicker pickles with classic mayo
2. Or with spicy mayo

So I have 5 sandwiches left to try over the next 7 weeks (3x McDonalds & 2x KFC). KFC said their test market in Florida led to them doubling their sales expectations, which is good news. It's like Popeyes...I only eat the chicken sandwich from there (although their NEW nuggets aren't bad, they're like the same style as the sandwich, not their old nuggets), so if KFC really changes their game it will probably be the same story. McDonalds, back in the day, had an amazing buttermilk crispy chicken sandwich. I'm talking like 20 years ago tho lol. So I'm curious to see if they're going to bring a true player to the table.

I make pretty good fried chicken sandwiches at home, mostly doing it sous-vide first & then a quick fry. Kenji has a really great 5-ingredient fried chicken sandwich that is very simple to make as well:

Pickle Brine Is the Star of This 5-Ingredient Fried Chicken Sandwich Recipe

Making an excellent fried chicken sandwich at home is easy when you use flavorful pickle juice as a brine, self-rising flour as a dredge, and a drizzle of buttermilk to add crispy nuggets.

www.seriouseats.com

The problem is that nothing beats freshly-fried chicken sandwiches, so when I'm on the road & away from home, a cold fried chicken sandwich just doesn't cut it. I do have a couple of reheating gizmos (Hot Logic Mini & a RoadPro 12V) for my car, but it's just not the same. I probably get Popeye's chicken sandwich far more often than is healthy for me lol.