Welcome one and all to a very special edition of Fried Chicken Friday. Back in the days of my youth, when I lived with other equally disgusting dudes, I would come home from work on Fridays with a $5 fried chicken bucket from Harris Teeter and a 30 of Bud Light to celebrate the upcoming weekend. Talk about romantic. This week, Popeye's brought back their chicken sandwich (on a Sunday no less! Major disrespect to Chick-fil-A) after a contentious debut earlier in the year. Since Sunday, there have been all sorts of tales spanning from a fender bender to murder over said chicken sandwich. But was it all worth it? Well, I put on my Big J journalist shoes (sweatpants and sweatshirt) and ventured out into the cold, cold world 15 minutes away in Eatontown to find out. The Popeye's on Route 35 in Eatontown is in a terrible location, right on a corner of a busy road. Anytime I've driven by there it's been pretty empty, but not today. Today, the drive-thru line ran right into the road, likely causing many a frustration for the dozens of suburban moms returning from their noon yoga classes. Hand up, I've never experienced Popeye's (or Chick-fil-A or really any southern chain) growing up in NJ. These places are just not popular around here, partly because our elitist attitudes simply cannot accept any other place excelling at anything and partly because we already have the GOAT chicken fast food spot, Cluck U Chicken. I think I could write a book about how much I love Cluck U Chicken and it's importance in my life (averaged 20 points per game in rec basketball when I ate there pre-game) but that's neither here nor there. Today, on this Fried Chicken Friday, we celebrate Little Nicky favorite (that's two Little Nicky references this week, yikes), the one and only, Popeye's chicken.
This was very comparable to a chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A. The bread was nearly identical almost as if these two chicken purveyors were in cahoots. Makes you think. The spicy chicken here had a lot more spice and flavor than Chick-fil-A, however, it was missing the pickle. Honestly, I was expecting some lettuce or something on there since it was in the picture on the menu but nope. It's all about the chicken wars in these streets and truth be told, I have to give the chicken edge to Popeyes. Chick-fil-A has amazing sauce and the nuggets are pretty clutch but as far as bang for your buck is concerned, a five-piece tender combo meal with cajun fries is way better than some skimpy nugget and waffle fry combo at Chick-fil-A. And that's the tea.
PS, Cluck U Chicken is still the undisputed GOAT, don't @ me.
El Jefe you ignorant slut. How can you compare Popeyes strips with Chic filet A's nuggets?! Two totally different menu offerings plus chic fil A's nuggets are identical tasting to the sandwich while Popeyes strips taste nothing like the sandwich. Weird coincidence? I think not - Popeyes knew they had an inferior sandwich and changed their recipe to mirror the superior chic fil a sandwich.
ReplyDeleteInteresting theory, Bonerdogs. I did say that they may be in cahoots with the similar bun, but the sandwich did suspiciously taste similar as well. The strips and the nuggets are both offered as a similar combo meal so that's why they are compared. No question, Popeye's has the edge there.
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