The Chicken Sandwich Showdown

Every classic fast food establishment has a chicken sandwich, but it is debatable as to which is the best. Various fast food chicken sandwiches were rated by the Courier using the rubric below.

McDonalds (Shrewsbury Location)

• Presentation- It’s in an insulated chicken sandwich with packaging, a steamed bun, and a decent look- not super thrown-together (then again it depends on location).
• Toppings- There’s pickles, but if you went with the spicy option, you also are likely to get a spicy sauce. If you get deluxe, this includes lettuce, tomatoes and mayo.
• Size (Portion)- There is a decent ratio compared to their simple McChicken, a surprise of size from McDonald’s really. It has a larger size of chicken with a decent ratio of bun to chicken- semi-overflow, which in this case is good. 
• Overall Flavor Profile- Unlike a lot of the foods from McDonald’s, this chicken sandwich actually tastes like chicken with a solid fry that isn’t too salty. The roll has a more simplified flavor, leveling out the balance. With the spicy style, the chicken itself has some spice on its own, and the pepper sauce with it adds more of the heat. It has a solid balance of fat, acid, salt and heat. Four main things that make food satisfying. 
• Pricing- $3.89 by itself, but $7.39 for a total meal.
• Quality- When it comes to the quality of food, McDonald’s gets a lot of heat. What’s making this blow on social media from Twitter to TikTok, this chicken sandwich deserves all the hype. The surprising quality creates a decent sized chicken sandwich with up-to-par formation.

On a Scale of 1/10: A  Solid 7/10

KFC (Hanover Location)

• Presentation- This not rushed, well put-together chicken sandwich is golden brown with an average amount of mayo (not too much, not too little) on a toasted brioche bun.
• Toppings- It comes with mayo and thick-cut pickles; you can also get spicy sauce. 
• Size (portion)- One of the bigger sandwiches on this list, the amount of pickles was not fully placed around the sandwich, but if you’re truly too lazy to rearrange some pickles on a sandwich, you shouldn’t be eating it. 
• Overall Flavor Profile- There is a solid amount of flavor on the chicken with a nice snap and vinegar-flavor from the pickles which is well balanced by the tangy mayo. 
• Pricing- $3.99 each
• Quality- Equal to the sandwich from Popeye’s, this sandwich is definitely impressive considering the line they had at the time of service. 

Scale of 1/10: Another 9/10

Popeyes (York Location)

• Presentation- There’s a solid presentation representation that is actually  similar to its advertisement.
• Toppings- It has pickles, brioche bun and mayo; It comes with classic condiments. 
• Size (portion)- It provides a decent portion, a slight overflow of chicken.
• Overall flavor profile- It deserves the hype. It has a solid crunch with ratios of toppings, great flavor, salty and fatty for sure.
• Pricing- $3.99, make it a combo and it’s closer to $8.00
• Quality- Insane- and consistent (I bought two just to compare on consistency.)

Scale of 1/10: 9/10

Chick-fil-A (Shrewsbury Location)

• Presentation-  It came in an insulated package on a shiny toasted and dark golden-brown bun- simple.
• Toppings- Seemingly simple-pickles.
• Size (portion)-  It is a solid portion, not too big; the chicken fills the bun with no overlap and a decent amount of pickle distribution.
• Overall flavor profile- Due to it being fried in peanut oil, its flavor profile, which goes mostly into the breading, gives it a nice mellow flavor. It is much more simple, but it hits the spot of the genuine chicken sandwich.
• Pricing- $3.75 each
• Quality- It is consistent for sure with good quality white-meat chicken, nice attention to the fry, and a somewhat softer and less crispy texture on a quality bun.

Scale of 1/10: 7/10

Wendy’s (Shrewsbury Location)

• Presentation- It has a nice crisp on the outside and decent seasoning on the chicken itself. The roll is a bit more squished than preferred and is messier due to too much mayo.
• Toppings- Just mayo and lettuce.
• Size (portion)- It is smaller than others.
• Overall flavor profile- It has a good little bit of seasoning, tangy mayo- but way too much of it, and  the lettuce tasted like nothing and the bun was fine.
• Pricing– $0.99
• Quality- The sandwich became a bit soggy due to too much mayo, but seemed decent and was still warm- not the best so far, but it’s not Burger King. 

Scale of 1/10- 6/10

Arby’s (Shrewsbury Location)

• Presentation- It is not too bad compared to other sandwiches distributed by the establishment. It is well put together, not soggy or smashed. 
• Toppings- Lettuce (not soggy- thank goodness), tomato, mayo, crispy chicken and the toasted bun. 
• Size (portion)- Surprisingly big for its price. 
• Overall flavor profile- It’s not too bad; the lettuce and tomato could have been better or taken off, a bit heavy on the mayo, but the overall flavor wasn’t actually that bad. 
• Pricing- $3.99
• Quality- Like I said before, surprisingly better than was expected, but it wasn’t the best.

Scale 1/10- 6.5/10

Burger King (Shrewsbury Location)

• Presentation- (Note: this was the ORIGINAL chicken sandwich) It is messy in a sort of American junk food kind of way, light breading, different bread than normal, having sesame seeds to add something different.
• Toppings- Burger King’s lettuce…I’m just going to leave that there… and mayo.
• Size (portion)- It has a different ratio than usual- too much lettuce, not enough mayo, but has a decent amount of chicken.
• Overall flavor profile- This was surprisingly OK, but not my first choice personally. It seems closer to a Tyson chicken patty than a fried chicken sandwich.
• Pricing- $4.99
• Quality- Just OK-not awful, but I wasn’t satisfied. 

Scale of 1/10- 3/10 (the lettuce…)

Sonic (Hanover Location)

• Presentation- Nice- well put together presentation: one of the best so far. 
• Toppings- Lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo 
• Size (portion)- It provides a decent portion of chicken (more in a patty version than a solid piece of meat), a bit smaller than the average size, but still a handful. This comes on a whole grain roll (the first and only one).
• Overall flavor profile- Average in all honesty. It seemed more like your everyday classic chicken sandwich, having no extra flavor. It was a shame that the tomatoes easily made the roll and the reading of the chicken soggy, but it wasn’t awful at all. 
• Pricing- $3.79
• Quality- For the time it took, not what I was expecting. Seemed easily like a simple sandwich thrown together.

Scale of 1/10- 5/10