McDonald’s redoing their chicken sandwich lineup to compete in the chicken sandwich wars
- Thread starter Vanillalite
- Start date
I wonder why McDonalds USA doesn't just do a test run of the the Spicy Chicken McDeluxe that you can find in certain parts of southeast Asia. It has a patty made from chicken thigh with spicy breading. I honestly think it's one of the best chicken sandwiches around.
You either have a hilariously distorted memory of Chick Fil A from having not eat it in several years, or McDonald's legitimately is serving completely different style chicken sandwiches at different stores/regions. The McDonald's sandwich I got was so far removed from Chick Fil A it wasn't even the same species.
I had chik fila yesterday. Idk what to tell you. It was nearly the same thing
I tried it yesterday and it was pretty good. Mine wasn't dry and they put quite a lot of that spicy sauce on it, which tasted alright. I added lettuce. Overall I'd say it's about as good if not a bit better than Wendy's spicy chicken, but not on the same league as Popeyes.
I'll probably eat it more often than popeyes tho since there's not many popeyes near me.
I'll probably eat it more often than popeyes tho since there's not many popeyes near me.
Just had another spicy and regular sandwich and they're just fuckin great. And yes, they are very very very similar to CFA.
I'm going to take this as confirmation they are indeed serving completely different style breasts/breading under this same moniker then. The sandwich I got was a very light colored breading, almost yellow color (like this) which couldn't be any further removed from Chick Fil A both in visual and taste. Now their old "Southern Style" chicken sandwiches were indeed very close to Chick Fil A, but this new one (at least the one I got) is light years apart.
I wish I had taken a picture of the one I just ate, but the beading was darker and also the meat far juicier than what seems to be on that picture. It's pretty much identical to CFA though, looking like this (except squished in a bag):
This is in SF.
Same here.
Popeye's >> Wendy's Spicy Asiago > Chik-Fil-A > McDonald's > Jack's new spicy chicken
Yup. The picture in the menu looked like the lighter smaller one but in actuality it was darker and thicker like chik filaI wish I had taken a picture of the one I just ate, but the beading was darker and also the meat far juicier than what seems to be on that picture. It's pretty much identical to CFA though, looking like this (except squished in a bag):
This is in SF.
Had a spicy yesterday and was so disappointed. The bun was bigger than the chicken patty and there was almost no sauce on it. Not crispy in the least. I prefer the cheap dollar spicy chicken to this sad version.
Grabbed a deluxe today after work. Meh. Nothing special. May grab a spicy one tomorrow or next week or something.
Save your money. It's the mildest shit ever. Absolutely nothing special either.
But there's no deluxe version of the new chicken sandwich?
It's decently spicy, more so than I've ever gotten from a fast food place in the past. And I like extremely spicy food and have a decently high tolerance (I have some torchbearer garlic reaper sauce almost daily, can go much spicier, etc).
It's a step up, but it still isn't something amazing. I'd choose to get the Hot n Spicy still over anything.
The chicken fillet itself was tame in being spicy, what was carrying the spiciness was the sauce used. It wasn't bad, but I feel if you need to use sauce to make something, then you lose out. Pickle game though! The bun itself was good as well.
Popeye's is still the clear winner when it comes to the chicken sandwich.
The chicken fillet itself was tame in being spicy, what was carrying the spiciness was the sauce used. It wasn't bad, but I feel if you need to use sauce to make something, then you lose out. Pickle game though! The bun itself was good as well.
Popeye's is still the clear winner when it comes to the chicken sandwich.
Yeah, just had spicy Chic Fil A last week and I was surprised at how close the McDs sandwich was. Based on the wildly differing impressions here I honestly think there are some odd quality control issues depending on the location.
Maybe it's market specific, but I have ordered a deluxe version as well.
Interesting! I think you're right and I was just blind, we do have them. Oops! Sorry.
I tried the deluxe version the other day and it's not bad. There was a deal in the app so you could get a meal for the cost of the sandwich.
Do people normally eat chicken sandwiches with just a bun and pickles? The normal version sounds like I'd be pretty bland.
I have a bunch of leftover cfl sauce in the fridge. If I bought the plain version I'd probably end up slathering it lol
Do people normally eat chicken sandwiches with just a bun and pickles? The normal version sounds like I'd be pretty bland.
I have a bunch of leftover cfl sauce in the fridge. If I bought the plain version I'd probably end up slathering it lol
Had the regular,freshly fried it's pretty good. Needs mayo or sauce though. The batter on it is the same consistency as their chicken nuggets but with a tad bit more flavor.
Got it today and was pleasantly surprised. I actually really liked it. It had a good zing to the sauce, spicier than the Chick Fila spicy chichken sandwich. I'm still pretty surprised at how spicy it was, I think it was spicier than Chick Fila and Popeyes. For fast food I was surprissed, esp because I got the spicy nugs a few weeks back and if you told me they were regular chicken nuggets I would have believed you.
I don't think I like it more than chick fila, and I thought popeyes was pretty good too this week. I can genuinely say I like them all, right now. The Popeyes one was good but it was so heavy, where as the chick fila one seemed ... I dunno "lighter." Like I don't hate myself after having a spicy chicken deluxe from Chick Fila like I did from Popeyes or McDs.
Is there a "deluxe" version of this sandwich with lettuce, tomato, pickles and cheese?
^^ Guess there is. I figured I was getting the "deluxe" when I ordered it, but merely got the normal one. It was actually pretty good, now I have reason to go back and again hate myself.
I don't think I like it more than chick fila, and I thought popeyes was pretty good too this week. I can genuinely say I like them all, right now. The Popeyes one was good but it was so heavy, where as the chick fila one seemed ... I dunno "lighter." Like I don't hate myself after having a spicy chicken deluxe from Chick Fila like I did from Popeyes or McDs.
Is there a "deluxe" version of this sandwich with lettuce, tomato, pickles and cheese?
^^ Guess there is. I figured I was getting the "deluxe" when I ordered it, but merely got the normal one. It was actually pretty good, now I have reason to go back and again hate myself.
I wish I had taken a picture of the one I just ate, but the beading was darker and also the meat far juicier than what seems to be on that picture. It's pretty much identical to CFA though, looking like this (except squished in a bag):
This is in SF.
It's possible that some restaurants are still phasing out the old style chicken sandwich patties before they use the new ones, would explain a lot of the wild variations in here.
Sucks but it's fairly normal to avoid wasting all the old product, one of the reasons I am waiting a week or two to try to make sure I get the new style.
Tried this today. Got the "spicy" and was completely underwhelmed at the flavor. The sauce isn't spicy, it's oddly sweet and generally unappetizing. My chicken was basically inedible as it was, without hyperbole, the toughest piece of chicken I have ever been served.
Lesson learned. Just stick with Popeye's if I want a good sandwich.
Lesson learned. Just stick with Popeye's if I want a good sandwich.
Got the spicy last night and it was fine. Taste was good but the chicken was on the dry side. I think it's serviceable if you don't have CFA or Popeyes in your area but I still prefer those.
McDonalds is also one of the worst for not cycling out food from their warmers. I say this as someone who worked there for 2 years, as did my sister (she worked there for 5). I can imagine the chicken sandwhich probably sits in the warmer for an hour, and instead of being wasted certain McDs will just hit the button again and let food sit like that for hours. It's most noticeable with their chicken products and their french fries (which has a life of 7 minutes from when they come out the vat to when they're supposed to be wasted).
I love chick fil this is basically a chic fil a knockoff without the peanut oil flavoring. McDonald's isn't competing with Popeyes but going after the chick fil a crowd. This is a pretty good substitute but the chick fil a sandwich is slightly better.
I can't believe some here have said it's better than CFA or nearly taste the same... LOL.
Just had mcdonalds new "spicy "sandwich and a spicy mcchicken the other day. That moment when you actually enjoyed the cheaper spicy mcchicken alot more... wtf.
Imo, this doesn't need to be $4. It was tiny, not even spicy, and worse, it tasted.... ok? Like.. nothing really special. This tastes EXACTLY like the buttermilk chicken sandwich that they also have but just cheaper. There was barely any hot sauce on my sandwich too. At this point, i'm just gonna stick to the spicy mcchicknes which is HOTTER, taste better, and better value. I know many here are grossed out by mcchickens, but it's actually pretty good imo.
My rankings which got updated thanks to canes:
1. CFA
2 Canes (it blew my mind the other day.. so delicious!)
3. Popeyes (i'll never make popeyes #1 because their shitty customer service is out of this world and insulting!)
4. Wendys
5. Jack In the box
6. Mcdonalds (only the mcchickens).
PS.... the spicy mcchicken i had was also bigger than the spicy sandwich LOL. I was mind blown! I was like "what's going on McDonalds!"
Just had mcdonalds new "spicy "sandwich and a spicy mcchicken the other day. That moment when you actually enjoyed the cheaper spicy mcchicken alot more... wtf.
Imo, this doesn't need to be $4. It was tiny, not even spicy, and worse, it tasted.... ok? Like.. nothing really special. This tastes EXACTLY like the buttermilk chicken sandwich that they also have but just cheaper. There was barely any hot sauce on my sandwich too. At this point, i'm just gonna stick to the spicy mcchicknes which is HOTTER, taste better, and better value. I know many here are grossed out by mcchickens, but it's actually pretty good imo.
My rankings which got updated thanks to canes:
1. CFA
2 Canes (it blew my mind the other day.. so delicious!)
3. Popeyes (i'll never make popeyes #1 because their shitty customer service is out of this world and insulting!)
4. Wendys
5. Jack In the box
6. Mcdonalds (only the mcchickens).
PS.... the spicy mcchicken i had was also bigger than the spicy sandwich LOL. I was mind blown! I was like "what's going on McDonalds!"
Yeah, I agree.
Probably won't buy again, just like Popeye's here. I've bought the Spicy sandwich at both and they're boring/bland, although Popeye's did have a huge piece of chicken on the sandwich. I'll stick to Zaxby's and when my wife gets CFA taste wise.
Had the new spicy sandwich. chicken was fine, but not as quality as some others. The sauce however was awful.
This thread made me crave McDees so I tried the spicy version and it was...man, it wasn't good at all.
I've never eaten a competitor CFA sandwich that felt so...Tyson chicken-y. The whole thing was stringy, like to the point where I pulled threads of tough chicken with my teeth like a piece of fabric being pulled from a wearable. And it was fried in a way that the coated layer and chicken layer were very obvious, I could move the layers around when I held the sandwich together. Also, it definitely didn't taste like a 100% chicken breast filet, I could feel that fake rib-meat kinda add-in-texture in my mouth as I chewed.
Overall, would not recommend. CFA is still the best, followed by Popeyes spicy. The way CFA marinates their filet will always be more impressive than deep frying and splurting on spicy sauce as an afterthought.
On a somewhat unrelated note, did you guys know that Canadian McDonald's have different types of McChicken's??? My brother's there now and he just showed me some options that look super interesting.
I've never eaten a competitor CFA sandwich that felt so...Tyson chicken-y. The whole thing was stringy, like to the point where I pulled threads of tough chicken with my teeth like a piece of fabric being pulled from a wearable. And it was fried in a way that the coated layer and chicken layer were very obvious, I could move the layers around when I held the sandwich together. Also, it definitely didn't taste like a 100% chicken breast filet, I could feel that fake rib-meat kinda add-in-texture in my mouth as I chewed.
Overall, would not recommend. CFA is still the best, followed by Popeyes spicy. The way CFA marinates their filet will always be more impressive than deep frying and splurting on spicy sauce as an afterthought.
On a somewhat unrelated note, did you guys know that Canadian McDonald's have different types of McChicken's??? My brother's there now and he just showed me some options that look super interesting.
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True enough, franchise models are ass sometimes. We used to have almost all corporate McDonald's in the area and they were decent, ended up selling out to franchisees and the quality and service nosedived.
I tried the spicy and wasn't too impressed. The Popeyes chicken sandwich is far superior than all others
Tried the Deluxe and it was nothing to write home about. Popeyes will remain my goto chicken sandwich.
The spicy chicken sandwich reminds me of something called a clux Deluxe from school lunch. Your taste buds are fucked if you think this is the same as cfa or anything decent. (That being said I didn't hate it but for the price no thank you)
I had two and it was disappointing and the patty was small. It's funny while everyone is trying to take Popeyes chicken sandwich crown Popeyes moved on to fish sandwiches that's twice as big as the competitors chicken sandwich attempts.
Gave it a go the other day, was okay, maybe on par with CFA but Popeyes still king, a passable option in a pinch since I don't have a Popeyes close.
The Spicy does have more kick then any other chain I have had though so that's something.
The Spicy does have more kick then any other chain I have had though so that's something.