Wingstop Takes Aim in the Chicken Sandwich War

The chicken sandwich battle that brewed on the internet between Chick-fil-A and Popeye's a couple of years ago was an interesting anomaly: Something as simple as a slab of fried chicken between two pieces of bread forced two chains to defend and improve their products.

Others that tried to jump on this bandwagon, like a desperate soul running after a train, produced nothing but radioactive fallout. Kentucky Fried Chicken even tried and failed with its uninspired Jack Harlow Meal, which is astonishing because all KFC serves is chicken.

The one place that might've had a fighting chance at piggybacking on the success of the Chick-fil-A vs. Popeye sandwich war is Wingstop. The chain focuses almost entirely on chicken made for the masses and is something that's actually good when you need to feed a bunch of people but want something other than pizza.

Until now, Wingstop has offered only chicken wings and boneless wings in 11 flavors. Even though the company is late to the game, it's the latest chicken joint chain to produce its own take on the classic chicken sandwich. Alas, it doesn't come close to good.

It's not as bad as the latest KFC combo meal, with a celebrity name slapped on it to distract your senses with shiny stars from a bland offering. But, that's the very bottom of the chicken sandwich control test, and Wingstop's entry barely moves up from there.

The Wingstop ordering process for chicken sandwiches works just like its winged brethren. You can either get a plain one and add your own dipping sauces or have the patty cooked in one of 12 sauce flavors that offer tastes from sweet to savory to spicy or some combination of the three. Our taste test consisted of six sandwiches, including a plain sandwich to get a base-level reading. The five flavors were the signature lemon pepper, Louisiana heat, hickory smoked barbecue, original hot and the new limited hot honey rub.

The plain is a disappointment. Wingstop is capable of producing a chicken wing that's juicy and flavorful, depending on how quickly you get your order, but the chicken patty tasted dry, crummy and just, well, plain. Too plain. There's no flakiness or crunch to the crusty exterior like Popeye's or even a hint of a simulated brine like Chick-fil-A. It tastes like a bare-minimum attempt to put something between two pieces of bread.

Maybe some flavor would perk up this paltry patty of poultry. Not so, apparently. The original hot and hot honey rub sandwiches don't taste all that different from the plain sandwich. In fact, the cartons they came in weren't labeled by flavor and are so bland, it's a challenge to tell them apart. This made the hot honey rub a disappointment, particularly because it's a combo that could've worked great. The only upside here is that it won't be around long.

The Louisiana heat-flavored sandwich at least has a semblance of flavor beyond its fried chicken foundation. There's a nice twinge of sweetness, as any decent Louisiana-based hot sauce should impart. However, the heat could've been a little stronger.

Wingstop's honey-smoked barbecue isn't something that could rival any from-scratch sauce, but it's still good for something that's designed to be produced and delivered hot and quick. The chicken sandwich version, however, doesn't even match its winged and boneless siblings. It tastes like something (gasp!) store-bought that came from the adjoining pharmacy instead of the condiment aisle. It's juicier than the others but that's just because it's drowning in sauce.

The lemon pepper was the best because it at least tasted like its name. It's a nice, mild taste but it still has to overcome the bland patty that doesn't do it any flavor favors.

Wingstop should just stick to wings. There are better, cheaper and quicker ways to satisfy a sudden urge for a chicken sandwich. Stay in your lane, as the kids on the internet say.