Dave Johnson
Popeyes now-famous chicken sandwich.
- 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.