In recent months a new war broke  out between competing fast food restaurants, one that  is over who could create the best chicken sandwich. Chick-Fil-A had the original idea of putting their chicken in between two buns and adding pickles, but fast food restaurants have been slowly creating their own take on it. While some companies succeeded, others failed miserably.

In December 2020, Jack in the Box came out with their take on the chicken sandwich and it’s a complete disappointment. When you get the chicken sandwich it comes in this large box, only to open it up and see a disappointingly small sandwich sitting there. The sandwich has very little flavor to it mostly due to the chicken being very poorly seasoned. Jack in the Box also advertised their sandwich to be oozing with their mystery sauce when in reality, they don’t put enough for the sauce to impact the flavor of the sandwich whatsoever. Their sandwich is an abomination that should’ve never seen the light of day.

Sonic came out with their take on the chicken sandwich called the Chicken Slinger in January 2021. The chicken sandwich is very small yet it only costs $2.49, making it very cheap compared to other options. The chicken sandwich doesn’t look like anything special with just pickles, mayonnaise, and a bun, yet it is bursting with flavor, as it is nicely seasoned and the breading on the chicken and the pickles go together well, adding a nice crunch when you bite down. Sonic decided they wanted to make a good chicken sandwich so they did.

The McDonald’s chicken sandwich is mediocre at best. McDonald’s didn’t excel in anything for their chicken sandwich with little flavor in it, yet the spicy sandwich has a tasty spicy mayonnaise with just enough heat on it. The chicken is not very crispy either with very little breading on it making it disappointing with every bite. It is also very expensive, costing $5.99 for a decent sandwich. For a multi-billion dollar company, McDonald’s could’ve done much better with their chicken sandwich and disappointed big time.

The original chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A is one of the best. Although the chicken is dry the sandwich is seasoned perfectly, which somewhat makes up for the lack of sauce Chick-Fil-A puts on their sandwiches. Though the chicken itself is very tasty, that’s almost where it ends; the most pickles I’ve ever seen on their chicken sandwich is two, which isn’t close enough to cover the whole sandwich. The buns are also soft and almost soggy which is very disappointing when there’s so many easy fixes for the problem. Overall, it is good but not the best, yet it is priced well at only a little over $3.

There is no question about where the best chicken sandwich is from as it’s quite obviously Popeye’s chicken sandwich. This creation can be described as almost perfect; it has three pickles, which is the perfect pickle to sandwich ratio as you get just enough pickle in every bite. There is also a toasted bun with either their perfect spicy Mayo or regular Mayo spread onto it. The best part about the chicken sandwich is the chicken itself. Popeye’s is not stingy with their chicken as you get a massive piece that barely fits between the two buns. The chicken is also breaded perfectly and with every single bite there’s an audible crunch. All this and it’s one of the cheaper sandwiches coming in at only $3.99 making it the best chicken sandwich. 

It seems that the competition for the best chicken sandwich may be coming to a close as most fast food chains have their own version of the chicken sandwich. Some sandwiches came out as utter disappointments while others came out as surprisingly good. Overall the winner of this competition is without a doubt Popeyes, yet other sandwiches put up a good fight.