Picked up Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen (Lincolnwood) new fish sandwich. I see enthusiasm for this sandwich though there must be wide variation outlet to outlet as this was not good. Sloppy construction. Slight fishy flavor. And the breading tasted like paste.
Bun tasty. Pickle tasty. Overall. 2/10.

click to enlarge

G Wiv wrote:Bun tasty. Pickle tasty. Overall. 2/10.

LOL . . . and how was the portion?

=R=

G Wiv wrote:Picked up Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen (Lincolnwood) new fish sandwich. I see enthusiasm for this sandwich though there must be wide variation outlet to outlet as this was not good.

I have never had the fish sandwich. But I have their chicken sandwich a couple of times a month. Their is HUGE variation on the quality of their chicken sandwich. The biggest variation is, as best I can gather, whether the sandwich was made 5 minutes ago or an hour ago. There is no question that they make these sandwiches ahead - at times far ahead. When it is good, it is very good. Many times it is not good at all.

ronnie_suburban wrote:LOL . . . and how was the portion?

Nice size portion. Though neither Ellen or I ate more than 10% of the sandwich. Two fish sandwiches, ten bucks right down the float drain.

lougord99 wrote:I have never had the fish sandwich. But I have their chicken sandwich a couple of times a month. Their is HUGE variation on the quality of their chicken sandwich. The biggest variation is, as best I can gather, whether the sandwich was made 5 minutes ago or an hour ago. There is no question that they make these sandwiches ahead - at times far ahead. When it is good, it is very good. Many times it is not good at all.

I would agree with you on that point. The chicken sandwiches are better at 10:30 am when they are made fresh. However, I ordered the fish sandwiches at 10 am and it was still not good.

In general, to be blunt, the weakness of Popeye's is its absolute lack of consistency in BOTH service AND food quality. If you cannot count on consistency, why head to a chain?

Each time I make my fried chicken sandwich in my air fryer, the less likely I am to head out to a fast food place.

I had the new KFC classic chicken sandwich today at the Munster,In location. There were 2 people ahead of me in line and yet it took over 20 minutes to get my sandwich. I opened the foil bag,similar to Popeye's, and I found my sandwich wrapped in tin foil. Upon taking the first bite it was apparent that this sandwich was fresh from a low wattage heat lamp. The sandwich was weak on seasoning. The taste of the pickles and mayonnaise came through stronger than they should have. Portion was good. It wasn't a bad sandwich overall and I'd order it again but only if a Popeyes wasn't nearby.

As others have pointed out the quality of these sandwiches can vary from store to store and at what time of day you order it. I ordered mine around 3PM .

Artie wrote:it took over 20 minutes to get my sandwich.
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it was apparent that this sandwich was fresh from a low wattage heat lamp.

So you had to wait 20 minutes to get a sandwich that had been sitting around under a heat lamp. That's just a bad combination all around. Sorry to hear about it, but thanks for taking one for the team!

nsxtasy wrote:

Artie wrote:it took over 20 minutes to get my sandwich.
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it was apparent that this sandwich was fresh from a low wattage heat lamp.

So you had to wait 20 minutes to get a sandwich that had been sitting around under a heat lamp. That's just a bad combination all around. Sorry to hear about it, but thanks for taking one for the team!

Truth be told I've had problems at that location in the past. The minute I saw that the sandwich was wrapped in foil I sensed a problem. I had watched a Joe Is Hungry you tube video review the day before and his experience was the total opposite of mine. He does really thorough reviews. First he pulls off to the side and checks the temperature of what he bought. He also buys several of whatever he's reviewing and does a weight test to see if they're comparable. I plan to try the sandwich again at a different location. Joe Is Hungry Review

A happy ending to my KFC adventure Shortly after posting here I remembered that I still had the receipt for the sandwich from yesterday. It had an offer for a buy one get one chicken sandwich if you filled it out. Being a senior citizen with too much time on my hands,of course I responded and reported my underwhelming experience from yesterday.

At 1:45PM I received the following email...

Thank you for letting us know about your experience at KFC. We do sincerely apologize that you were not satisfied with your visit to our restaurant and thank you for taking the time to alert us of your concerns. We take feedback of this nature very seriously and will be addressing this with the location that you visited.

As a token of our gratitude for providing us with your comments we will be mailing a voucher to the address you provided which can be used for your next purchase at any participating restaurant. Please allow approximately 7-10 business days for your voucher to reach you. It is our hope that you will give us another opportunity to provide you with both fantastic service and great food.

It's not often that a company responds that quickly to a complaint and goes the extra mile to rectify the problem. Hat's Off to KFC!

I tried the new McDonald's chicken (original). Meh. The spicy might be a little better but I really don't care. The KFC sandwich was very good and comparable to Popeye's. I like the KFC sauce so I put it on in place of the mayo.

Portillo’s new spicy chicken sandwich is good, but the one at Chubby’s Char House is great.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/c ... story.html

Dave148 wrote:Portillo’s new spicy chicken sandwich is good, but the one at Chubby’s Char House is great.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/c ... story.html

Here's a visual aid from the beginning of last month. Chubby's is an MVP of the pandemic era for the burgeoning Near West takeout social media community and would be my GNR candidate for the year.

My current favorite is from Buddy's Bites & Brews (formerly Finn McCool's).
Less pricey than nearby Fry the Coop ($8.99 -- including a side; there's also a slider version), their Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich is respectably firey, while being a bit less gloppy (both have slaw, BB&B has a little less, and it's less saucy). Good crunch, decent-sized, juicy chicken breast.

OTOH, I'd skip the upgrade from fries or tots to onion petals -- the $1.99 gets you a bland, not-very-crisp, and small serving of refugees from a bloomin' onion. (I really miss Popeyes onion rings)

Buddy's Bites & Brews
702 N River Rd, Mt Prospect, IL 60056
+18472987200
http://buddysbnb.com/