This came up at lunch today making me curious what others on here think.
IF you eat at fast food chicken chains (not private or rare places), which ones would you prefer/avoid and for what foods?
This is not a thread for those who don’t like these places at all, or for those who don’t think folks should eat at them due to lack of healthy options, etc.
For us:
Popeyes wins for fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. I prefer mild. H prefers spicy for fried, but mild for sandwiches.
Chick Fil A wins for tenders, waffle fries, and lemonade - salads or milkshakes too when we’re in the mood for those.
If we must do KFC (it means someone else was choosing), then tenders are decent. Fried chicken is ok. Sides are the worst.
If we go to Bojangles, I actually prefer their pork, esp in places that have the pork breakfast biscuit vs the pork BBQ sandwiches.
Zaxby’s isn’t a favorite either, but I can find things to eat there. We’ll choose it if the only other options are places like McD’s or BK.
Church’s we avoid - haven’t found anything I like there.
The first three we have nearby. The latter three we encounter only when traveling.
I’m no expert because while I can enjoy it from time to time I just don’t order fast food - or any restaurant food often.
BUT…
Chicken? Wing Stop. Garlic parm sauce dipped in ranch. I don’t know the correct term - they are like boneless tenders?
Chick Fil A has a great milkshake. I can take or leave anything else.
We have Popeyes, churches , recently Caine’s - but I’ve never had any of them. KFC was a growing up thing - a real treat to get a bucket of chicken. Haven’t had it in years.
So my top based on limited experience is a confident vote for Wing Stop.
Chic fil a for the nuggets and waffle fries, and Wendy’s for the spicy chicken sandwich.
I’ve grown tired of both lately. It seems the quality of fast food has declined a lot recently. Now I only indulge when traveling, otherwise I eat healthier food at home.
We rarely eat out these days and were just talking recently about how long it’s been since we had any fast food. I do crave a Big Mac now and again but it’s been years since I’ve had one!
In terms of chicken, the last fast food chicken we’ve had hasn’t been mentioned yet-Royal Farms -had it about 2 years ago and thought it was very good.
I don’t eat fast food, we have so many independent restaurants here. However, I’ve been hearing good things about Popeyes blackened chicken sandwich, and we have at least 3 ten minutes away… I’ve never been a fan of fried chicken (what’s wrong with me), but since I have no desire to make it, I want to try some (I’ve never liked chicken nuggets/tenders or breaded chicken sandwiches, even from amazing delis). Bon chon is as close as I get to fast food, although every now and then I want a Wendy’s burger and frosty.
The Popeye’s chicken sandwich is a damn fine sandwich. Kind of ridiculously good for a fast food chain. The biscuits are terrific, too. The red beans and rice and coleslaw are worthy sides.
Since someone brought up Bonchon: WOW. I’m not a wings girl, but my parents dragged me there a few years back. Their chicken is INCREDIBLE. It’s the best I’ve ever had, which includes classic soul food places as well as modern foodie type competitors.
All three of these I haven’t heard of, so will need to look for them on our travels. When we travel we like to eat in places that we can’t get at home. Sometimes we’re looking for fast food. More commonly we’re looking for local, but sometimes fast food is it.
We just ate at one of these on a recent trip after seeing signs that made it seem special. Neither H nor I feel the need to eat at one again. It’s not our flavor and the chicken we had was too dry for our tastes. We could eat there (don’t hate it), but there are other places to try out along that route.
They’re good, but we haven’t had chicken from there in eons - even though there’s one relatively close by. We just prefer Popeyes or Chick Fil A and they’re both closer. Royal Farms is a gas station like WaWas or Sheetz, but they do seem to specialize in chicken. When we had Raisin Canes it was in a gas station too, but I don’t know if it was the gas station or just a franchise within it.
I had forgotten about Boston Market (anyone remember them when they were Boston Chicken?). I love the flavor of both their chicken and their sides, but we don’t have one near us so haven’t been in years.
Otherwise, I haven’t heard of Bonchon either, so will look for them, but also noting it’s not fast food for time considerations.
One of the only fast food places H will eat at is El Pollo Loco, we probably eat there once or twice a month. S is a Chick Fil A fan, he loves their waffle fries and says the sandwich with a gluten free bun is decent.
We like Royal Farms here. One just opened near us – used to have to catch one on a trip going at least to Baltimore. There’s one right next to my oncologist’s hospital, which is convenient for the heart attack that follows after fried chicken!