It’s easy to crave a crispy, flavorful, delicious chicken sandwich for lunch. However, with so many places now offering the crispy chicken sandwich, it can be difficult to choose where you go to obtain this mcguffin. Luckily, a few friends and I went out to find the best bang for your buck chicken sandwich while also having the classic crispiness of a delicious sandwich.
Our first stop was Raising Cane’s. Cane’s needs no introduction. They are known for their classic chicken fingers and their delicious yet mysterious Cane’s sauce. Cane’s was looking very promising for having the best chicken sandwich on this list, but a few major alarm bells were going off in my head right when we pulled into the restaurant. The place was extremely busy. The drive-through went all the way around the building, and the parking lot was packed. Thankfully, we were able to find a parking space on the edge of the parking lot and went inside to get our food.
The sandwich itself cost around $8.50 and the combo $10.80, which gave you fries and a fountain drink with the sandwich. We ordered three chicken sandwich combos. It took around 5 minutes for the first order to come out. Not a horrible wait, considering how packed it was, but it still should be a factor to consider if you have a limited amount of time to eat. The sandwich itself was very delicious. Instead of having a regular chicken patty, the sandwich had three of the classic Cane’s chicken fingers inside with Cane’s sauce and some lettuce.
“For me, the chicken is nice and crispy,” says Owen Gerbowski. “It’s juicy and moist, it has all the good flavors that you need. Personally, I give it a 8.5 out of 10”.
“The first bite into it, it’s really messy,” Gavin Snyder tells us. “Its got canes sauce all over the place”. Gavin would also go on to give the sandwich a rating of 8.5 out of 10.
In all, Cane’s is a great place to consider ordering a chicken sandwich from. The chicken fingers and canes sauce complement each other very well and the bun is nice and fluffy with sesame seeds on top. However, if you are ordering during lunch hours, expect an increased wait time.
Next up, Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-A is yet another classic restaurant if you are looking to get a good chicken sandwich. They are known for its great customer service and high-quality food. It is also interesting to know that Chick-fil-A was the first place to popularize the chicken sandwich. Me and my team had very high hopes for Chick-fil-A’s chicken sandwich and were hoping that this would be the one to take the crown of “best chicken sandwich”.
The restaurant was busy, not as busy as Cane’s, but still considerably busy. The sandwich alone cost $5.30 and a meal costing $9.45. This meal is a lot cheaper than canes prices but we’ll get into that later. The wait was surprisingly quick considering how busy it was during peak lunch hours, only taking around three minutes for the first order to be brought out. The sandwich itself is very rudimentary and basic, just the bun, chicken patty, and pickles.
“It was crispy, the chicken was hot, and it tasted good, but it’s just flat.” Owen Gerbowski says, giving his opinion. “It’s good, just a little basic. I give it a 6.5 out of 10.”
“The canes sandwich was much bigger and kinda sloppy and messy, which I did not enjoy. I’ll probably give it an 8.5 out of 10,” Gavin says.
Unfortunately, I think Chick-fil-A’s classic sandwich suffers from being just too basic. I thought that the bun and pickles did not have much flavor and that the chicken was the only good thing going for it. I can see how some people can enjoy the simplicity of the sandwich as well as the lower cost and wait, but for me, I think I’d rather spend the extra dollar on the deluxe chicken sandwich at Chick-fil-A, which comes with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and pickles. Unfortunately, we were restricted to trying out only the flagship chicken sandwich from each location for simplicity, so Chick-fil-A gets a lower rating on this list.
For our final stop, we went to Wendy’s. Wendy’s is not a very popular location in the St. Francis community. I rarely hear anybody talk about how good Wendy’s is, so we decided to give it some time in the spotlight. Wendy’s is commonly known for their square burgers, chilli, and milkshake/icey combo called the Frosty. I’ve never had Wendy’s before, so I was excited to see what Wendy’s had for us.
Unlike the other two places, Wendy’s was not very busy. A few drive-through orders here and there, and a few people were inside, but nothing where you could expect a long wait. The sandwich alone costs $6.50, and a meal costs $11.50, which is more on the costly side. The wait was average. It took us about four minutes for the first order to come out. compared to the other places, it’s right in the middle. The sandwich came with lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, and mayo, which works very well with the sandwich.
“Mine had a good amount of pickles,” says Owen, “I’m not a huge fan of pickles, but I think it all comes together very well… for the quality of the sandwich, I don’t think it’s that good; I give wendy’s a 5 out of 10.”
“I think that it was a really good sandwich,” Gavin Shares. “I thought the flavors came together really well. I would give Wendy’s a 9 out of 10”.
For me, there are too many small negatives to give Wendy’s a good score. I thought that the sandwich was really good and checked all the boxes for a good chicken sandwich, but the chicken itself was average and did not have its own unique taste like the other places. Not bad, just ok.
Overall, my team and I concluded that Cane’s is the best place to go to if you’re craving a good chicken sandwich. We think that the pricing is very good for the quality and taste you are given. Chick-fil-A is a good substitute if there are no Cane’s around or if you just prefer a more mainstream chicken sandwich option with lower prices and waiting times. Wendy’s is just ok. Because Wendy’s is more of a burger joint, and we think this is why it scored lower on the list.
