Popeye's chicken sandwich, what the deal?

[wvjules]

I hate the texture of Popeye's chicken fingers but I want to try the chicken sandwich. Hopefully the texture is better.

 

[RamblingMad]

It’s cheap fast food that’s better than the alternatives at the same price point.

 

[bcla]

The meat is just Popeye's boneless chicken with the kind of batter found in their regular fried chicken and/or tenders. Like KFC they use a pressure fryer. Then they have their own sauce. The bread is probably where it shines. It's a brioche bun that's grilled on the inside surface. I haven't had any kind of fast food sandwich with that kind of bread other than maybe some places that used King's Hawaiian buns.

 

[mrodgers]

Certainly a fast food burger can be good, but not mind blowing. If I'm spending upwards of $10 on a burger, fries, and a beverage, I'd rather spend $10 on a sit down restaurant burger. Chili's 3 for $10 special is a better deal than any fast food place.

I mentioned and they responded to my stating Five Guys Burgers. That is not fast food. Garbage over-seasoned, tasteless beef, frozen, who knows what it's made out of, and dry Chili's burger is much closer to fast food than Five Guys burgers are.

 

[JaxDad]

I had my first Popeye’s chicken sandwich this afternoon. I didn’t even have to kill anyone or ram my car into the drive-through. I split a classic and a spicy sandwich with my son. I thought they were good. Both were nice, thick pieces of chicken, nicely breaded. It could have used a bit more seasoning when cooked—the chicken was juicy but somewhat bland. The classic had way too much mayonnaise. I would get it plain next time. The spicy sauce was good. Overall, good sandwiches for $3.99!

As others have noted, Popeye’s restaurants vary quite a bit. We had two near us. The one closest to our house closed, and unfortunately it was the much better of the two. The other one—the one I went to today—is pretty nasty. It had a slimy floor, an unstocked drink and napkin area, trash not picked up, and slow, apathetic servers. I actually did feel sorry for the servers though. This hype has certainly made their work more difficult. I’m glad I tried the sandwich, but I probably won’t return anytime soon.

 

[bcla]

One thing about this time is that they're specifically making the Popeye's chicken sandwich a permanent menu item.

 

[Gracedis1]

Drove by Popeyes today but they had a sign saying they were out of sandwiches. I really wanted to try one.

 

[KMarston]

My husband brought this home last night. YUCK!!! I don’t get it st all. The sauce was awful. I scraped as much as I could off and added Mardi Gras mustard, I could eat that stuff with a spoon!

 

[Lsdolphin]

Homecoming’s chicken sandwich is so much better...absolutely no comparison you must try one when in DS!!!

 

[tzolkin]

Ah, that's it? Just a chicken sandwich? Everyone goes nuts over Chic-fil-A because of this? Sure it was good, but it's just a fast food chicken sandwich.

I think the sandwich is really just a vehicle for eating the Chick-fil-A sauce

 

[ImDMous]

I've been to our Popeye's twice (about a year apart). Both times it took half an hour to get chicken strips. There was no one there, no crowds, no lines, several people working, dinner time on a Thursday night. If this is how long it takes when there's no hype, there's no way I'm going when they have something popular. That is not "fast" food.

 

[mom2rtk]

I think the sandwich is really just a vehicle for eating the Chick-fil-A sauce

That's how I am with the nuggets and even the fries.

 

[Ladyandthepuppies]

I had the Popeyes sandwich when it first came out a month ago, and it was really good. It has a nice crispy-crunch to it. I love pickles and Chick fil A brines their chicken in pickle juice so I do prefer CFA’s sandwich for the pickles aftertaste. But the Popeyes sandwich is on par with CFA and I would definitely get it again.

However, the Popeyes near me is nasty with no quality control and the food is affected by it. The sandwich I got had a massive amount of mayo, I had to wipe it off with a knife. No one wants to eat a straight mouthful of mayo. So I will also be sticking to CFA for that reason.

It’s cheap fast food that’s better than the alternatives at the same price point.

<——— exactly. I don’t think I would ever drive out of my way for it but CFA is tasty for what it is. Not worth driving 35 miles and if you have the time/$ for better quality food, go for it. But if I have to eat drive-thru, it’s CFA all day.

Also (not to derail this because it’s supposed to be about the Popeyes sandwich) but CFA has seasonal peppermint milkshakes coming out soon and they’re the BEST!!!

 

[L&Lfan]

I love Chick-fil-A’s shakes. They had a peach one this summer that was fabulous! I’m anxious to try the peppermint for Christmas!

 

[Rossie3]

All the Popeye's around here are nasty and the service is super slow. I tried the sandwich and it was just ok. I would much rather have CFA. For the poster earlier that talked about the Ohio location, I have found that it seems the locations in the south just do it better. You want to see efficiency, watch CFA run a drive thru. 30 cars will move through that in like 10 mins. No other fast food place comes close.

 

[kimblebee]

We got a Popeyes here about a year ago? There were big line ups when they first opened but I imagine you wouldn’t be waiting now..especially with temperatures dropping. We’re thinking about using a delivery app to try it out sometime soon.

 

[Shellsbutt]

I love Chick-fil-A’s shakes. They had a peach one this summer that was fabulous! I’m anxious to try the peppermint for Christmas!

Yes! Their shakes are so good! I made sure to get the peach one several months ago, so refreshing and full of fruit. I love the peppermint one too, always have to get one a few times during the holiday season. We have a tradition of eating dinner there before looking at holiday lights.

 

[MrJT]

I had the opportunity to get takeout last night and my son normally wants Whataburger, but I asked if he wanted Popeyes, because I wanted to try this sandwich, luckily he did. I got it. I can positively say that it was bigger than a Chick-Fil-A sandwich, but it was nowhere as good, IMHO.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Had the Popeyes sandwich for lunch today. Wasn't bad prefer CFA. Not a big burger eater especially fast food ones prefer chicken. I mean I cannot see why people would wait on lines but wasnt bad.

 

[ronandannette]

We got a Popeyes here about a year ago? There were big line ups when they first opened but I imagine you wouldn’t be waiting now..especially with temperatures dropping. We’re thinking about using a delivery app to try it out sometime soon.

Canadian Popeye’s has a different menu than the American ones. There are a number of chicken sandwiches on it but alas, not this new one that everyone is fussing about. I’m not a chicken sandwich person** so I’ve never tried any of them but their regular chicken is just OK - not as good as KFC IMO and their gravy sucks. They do have buttermilk fried shrimp though, and that’s pretty good.

** For this reason I would never be a frequent visitor to Chik-Fil-A. They don’t serve fried chicken, just sandwiches and nuggets and salads basically.