Dave Johnson
- Popeyes has introduced a new chicken sandwich that’s getting rave reviews and positive comparisons to Chick-fil-A.
- As a long-time Chick-Fil-A fan, I wanted to compare the overall meal at Popeyes to what I already knew and loved.
- While the food was surprisingly good, the overall experience at Popeyes lags far behind what I have come to expect at Chick-fil-A.
Popeyes and Chick-fil-A are suddenly and unexpectedly embroiled in a chicken feud.
The two franchises traditionally sell relatively different fare — Popeyes focuses on Cajun-influenced chicken with an emphasis on fried chicken pieces, while Chick-fil-A is known for sandwiches and tenders. All that changed last week when Popeyes rolled out its new chicken sandwich, available in both a classic and spicy version.
The sandwich is so new that the company didn’t add it to its web site’s menu for at least a week, though Popeyes took the time to engage in a weirdly fascinating Twitter exchange with rival Chick-fil-A.
As a committed Chick-fil-A fan, I tend to have lunch there at least once a week, usually enjoying either a spicy chicken sandwich or Chick-n-Strips.
But whether out of convenience or a weird aversion to the name, I’ve never been through the doors of one — not even once. But when Business Insider’s Irene Jiang gushed about how much better the new sandwich was compared to Chick-fil-A’s old standby, I had to taste it for myself.
Rather than just comparing the two sandwiches, I took a different approach: I wanted to know what the overall experience of eating at Popeyes was like, and how it compares to my more familiar Chick-fil-A dining experience.
There are perhaps a dozen Popeyes in the greater LA area, but none are near me on the west side of the city, so I had to drive about a half hour to reach the closest one. Positioned at the corner of a strip mall, the street-side entrance is about what you’d expect — it’s clean and attractive.
Dave Johnson
But to get there from the parking lot, you have to carefully navigate past a line of traffic at the drive-through.
Dave Johnson
Wanting the best overall Popeyes experience, I checked Yelp to see which one to drive to. Unfortunately, crowdsourced reviews have not been kind to Popeyes in LA. They’re pretty much all 1.5 or 2 stars, which was not super encouraging.
Dave Johnson
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- McDonald’s is plotting its entry into the spicy chicken sandwich wars
- I ate spicy chicken sandwiches from Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, and Wendy’s, and Popeyes’ was majorly disappointing
- Popeyes is selling out of chicken sandwiches as the frenzy over the new menu item reaches a fever pitch
SEE ALSO: Popeyes’ new chicken sandwich convinced us that we never need to go back to Chick-fil-A
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Dave Johnson)