Now you may be wondering about the buzz around the new Popeye’s chicken sandwich! Launched in mid-August, this chicken sandwich quickly went viral through word of mouth creating lines and mania everywhere. Claims that the new chicken sandwich was better than arch-rival Chick Fil A’s was put to the test. Popeye’s then ran out of chicken in September, sadly ending all the chicken craziness. But not to fret, dear foodie, because the Popeye’s chicken sandwich re-launched on November 3 and guess what?! There were still lines! But persistence is important in life and all I can say is that this chicken sammich, well it’s worth a bit of a wait!

I headed over to the Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen on Capital Boulevard at about 2pm on a Thursday afternoon. Pulling into the parking lot, I could still see a line of about 6 cars in the drive-thru. Inside, there was a shorter line of about 4 people so, not too bad. And you can bet that most people were in line for that chicken sandwich. It takes about 10 minutes to hit the front of the line and I order up one spicy chicken sandwich ($3.99) and one classic combo’d up with a drink and Cajun fries. It’s $11.69 for the whole deal which is super reasonable and my order comes out in about 5 to 10 minutes given the busy restaurant.

The chicken sandwiches come nicely wrapped in foil-paper sleeves which keeps some of the heat in. Visually, it’s a delicious looking sandwich! Shiny-top, brioche bun with a large and bumpy, fried chicken patty tucked in between. Inside you’ll find two pickles, a slather of mayo (spicy or plain) and that’s about it. Taking a bite you’ll get a hit of tender chicken, crunchy batter and sweet from the pickle. Popeye’s grills the bun a bit for some buttery texture and the brioche adds a hint of sweet to the sandwich, excellent! While the chicken patty is all white meat, it’s tender and exhibits some juiciness. All in all it’s a very, nicely balanced chicken sandwich with some heft and surprisingly, not much grease which is appreciated. I’d recommend the spicy version to maximize flavor. And oh yeah, those Cajun fries are great too! Just a hint of spicy coating, I’ll need to get them fresh next time.

While I wouldn’t wait in a 30 minute line or risk being stabbed in line for the Popeye’s chicken sandwich, it’s certainly about as good as it gets for fast food chicken. It’s an extremely satisfying bite and well put together given its humble origins. Just be aware that we only have 7 or so Popeye’s in the area vs. the MANY Bojangles locations. So if you’re willing to make the trek out to your local Popeye’s Louisiana Chicken, I’m pretty sure you’ll be pretty pleased with their chicken sandwich, Classic or Spicy!

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen locations in the NC Triangle

3904 Western Blvd, Whitmore Drive, Raleigh

3699 New Bern Avenue, Raleigh

3318 Capital Blvd, Raleigh

1701 Pinewinds Drive, Raleigh

7120 Knightdale Blvd, Knightdale

Terminal 2, RDU Airport

2723 Guess Road, Durham