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Why is Popeyes so good?
I love fried chicken sandwiches. I have loads of fast food options as well as one off restaurants around me that offer fried chicken sandwiches, some that it is their claim to fame. It doesn’t seem to matter where I go in search of the best fried chicken sandwiches, or how much money I spend, Popeyes is always the best.
Two topics to start discussion:
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What is your favourite fried chicken place where you live? Bonus points if you live around Vancouver, BC, Canada and can introduce me to a new favourite chicken place.
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What does Popeyes do to get such consistency across all locations, and why the heck is it so good?
All fast-food chicken is the same to me, tbh. I prefer to make it at home. Here's a simplified version of my recipe:
Sandwich toppings:
Butter your buns, and throw 'em in the oven for a hot minute.
Wham, bam, thank you ma'am, you've got yourself the best chicken sandwich you've ever tasted. Guaranteed.
In my opinion, inserting step 0: "Submerge chicken in a brine made from pickle juice, brown sugar, salt, pepper and cayenne for one to two hours" will make your recipe even better.
Isn't straight up acid a bit too strong for leaving it for 2 hours? Doesn't it make the chicken mushy on the exterior?
I normally put the chicken in buttermilk or yogurt, and leave it in the fridge overnight.
Edit: pickle juice has both acid and salt. While both individually can tenderize meat (acid marinade or salt brine) I never had luck with either of them, in the short term or +30 minutes.
I tend to go longer and haven't noticed any mushy texture. 2h is kind of the minimum, IMO, to get the flavor. Even overnight works for me.
I don't know why... I haven't measured it, but I'd bet the pickle juice is a pH of 5ish. Maybe the salt helps?
Pickle brined chicken is nice, though. I'd strongly endorse tasting it first then asking questions later.
Maybe try a brining overnight in the fridge, and you may have better results. I usually pickle brine chicken this way and haven’t noticed any mushy texture. I’d say any less than 6 hours in a brine just isn’t worth it, imo.
I've got a marinade for chicken (not fried chicken but still) that uses straight up rice vinegar (along with some spices) overnight. It's not strong enough to really make the chicken mushy, at lesst not noticeably more than raw chicken already is. I don't know how acidic buttermilk and yogurt are by comparison but I suspect it's ultimately not too different results-wise.
Never heard of such a method! Can't wait to try it.
If you happen to live by a Jollibee, I definitely encourage you to try it to get another option! Fried chicken from the Philippines!
I’d love to try Jollibee one of these days. They are always really busy and I often don’t have time when I’m near one. I hear their spaghetti is also really good!
Their spaghetti is really good and very different, and don't forget the pie! Honestly everything on that menu is very good.
It’s apparently more of a sweet sauce, which I’m really curious about. There are more Jollibee locations popping up. I will have to make this happen.
I have a couple of Filipino friends and they tell me it's banana ketchup, which apparently they use in their home country a lot. I really like it a lot, would recommend! Their chicken is really good too, I had one open recently near my place and I've gone way too many times, even though it takes forever because it's so packed
In my country at least, I find Popeyes to be extremely salty. And I am known for liking a lot of salt. So I wouldn't say it is good at all.
the Popeye's around Vancouver are both bland and a bit too salty. Definitely not worth murdering someone for. I don't understand their bland pickles.
Huh? Is this a fried chicken metaphor I'm not familiar with?
a dude was stabbed over a sandwich --- which is insane.. and there's got to be more to it.
The answer is usually MSG. MSG isn’t a bad thing, it’s actually quite good. I only have an issue when it’s used as a crutch in food instead of seasoning it well and preparing food fresh.
There’s also a buttermilk marinade used on the chicken. In general you want to either brine or marinate your meats overnight.
Fun fact: Tomatoes have glutamates in them. When you add salt to tomatoes, it creates a compound that is more or less MSG (mono sodium glutamate). It’s why tomatoes taste so good with a little salt on them.
MSG is great for enhancing flavours for sure, but it gets an unnecessary bad rap. There was a time where many believed that it caused migraines and such.
Anything with a savory flavor has glutamates, including cheese, soy sauce and meat, as glutamates are the mechanism behind the umami flavor.
The original way of making monosodium glutamate, discovered in Japan, was to evaporate a savory soup stock (dashi) made from seaweed until only a savory salt was left behind.
The more you know! I thought it was fun, but apparently I had only scratched the surface. Thanks for the info.
I’ve been cooking with MSG lately. There’s a Josh Weissman video where he tried a bunch of recipes with MSG to see which ones get better. Pretty much every dish benefited from it. The exceptions tended to be neutral improvement and were dishes where either the MSG couldn’t dissolve or the dish had cheese in it.
Vancouverite and fried chicken connoisseur here.
Duffin's Donuts is my personal favourite for fried chicken in non-sandwich form. I don't know if they offer a fried chicken sandwich though.
Hundy is my pick for best sandwich. They offer a classic or Nashville-style hot chicken option. You'll pay about double what you would at Popeye's, but the quality makes it worth the splurge.
You're in Vancouver and like Popeyes?! I always thought it was different here... but maybe not.
Go to Downlow Chicken on Commercial for a sandwich... or Chicko Chicken for normal Korean fried chicken.
We may have different tastes, though. I find Popeyes to be incredibly bland and too salty.
For the other chicken places like Hi Five etc, most of them taste the same... but if you like Popeyes, you'd probably enjoy it. Hi Five is 24h, too.
But yeah, Down Low is pretty good. I wish their slaw had a little more acid to it. If you're around New West, there's a ghost kitchen called Nashville Hot Chicken that is around 5th and 12th that also has a decent sandwich.
Where else have you been for fried chicken that isn't a big chain?
Downlow is/has been good. Unfortunately the last few times I have gone it just hasn’t been good. The chicken has been dry and the batter was burnt. The first few times I went it was delicious, but the quality has slipped.
Chico Chicken, OZ Korean Fried Chicken (Coquitlam), and Hi Five Chicken are all good options.
The best that I’ve had outside of Popeyes is Vonns down on Denman. I don’t get out there often, but that’s also a damn good sandwich.
check the chicken sandwich at Slim's BBQ where Foundation used to be on 7th and Main. I don't know about the rest of their menu, but their chicken sandwich is pretty good.
Noted! Cartems isn’t far from there, so I will have to pop in for a donut to cap off the meal.
gotta do it. There really isn't a good, unbiased vancouver food community.
The best chicken sandwich I've had is still Hattie B's. It's a chain in Tennessee. I know some locals say it's a tourist trap, but their chicken is seriously good. A close second is Revival in Minneapolis.
My out of left field pick is back in like 2021 when the chicken sandwich wars were happening, the spicy version of the first Burger King one was phenomenal, it was up there against Revival and Hattie B's for me. They had that version for a few months and then changed the chicken and it became shit (so you can't get the god tier one anymore).
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2021/06/03/chicken-sandwich-wars-burger-kings-chking-available-today/7531463002/
https://www.thedrum.com/news/2021/06/03/burger-king-s-new-ch-king-sandwich-scary-good-says-billions-star-paul-giamatti
As for Popeyes, they're really solid for fast food and it tends to be my go to for a chicken sandwich, I just don't think McDonald's, CFA, or anybody else is close, and BK got rid of the very specific version of their chicken sandwich that I loved. When it comes to tenders, though, I gotta side with the buffalo tenders from Culver's, but Popeyes has them beat on a sandwich.
Hattie B's in Nashville was amazing when I visited 8 years or so ago, and it's created my set point for what I think good fried chicken should be. Even setting aside the "Shut the Cluck Up" spice level - it's crispy, juicy, perfectly salted, the batter isn't so thick it falls off, and the pickle is exactly the right condiment. I think the secret to their chicken (and possibly Popeye's as well) is buttermilk-brining.
I have a funny story about the "Shut the Cluck Up" sauce. I do like spicy food, but I made a huge mistake my first time at Hattie B's. I was on vacation with some friends and the line there was MONSTROUS. When we finally got to the front, there must have still been 50 people behind us. So I order a chicken sandwich and they ask me what spice level I want. I glanced at the menu and couldn't immediately see the spice levels and instead of being normal and just asking, I didn't want to hold up the line, so I said "make it as hot as you can", thinking that would probably be fine since it's a fast food place and with most restaurants where I'm from, "as hot as you can" isn't that spicy. I completely forgot I was in Nashville.
That sandwich fucked me up. I did actually finish half of it and it was delicious despite the spice, but I was in pain the rest of the night and my friends insisted on bar hopping, so I had some good ol' alcohol to "wash it down". I was still in pain the next morning. When we left Nashville on the third day and got Hattie B's again, I made sure to order the medium.
I'm an experienced spice consumer in the "bring me your Ghost Pepper sauce" vein. The "Shut the Cluck Up" level still gave me the sweats and an endorphin high, so I'm guessing it burned all the way through if you weren't accustomed to that much hot pepper.
That being said, the other seasonings still balanced perfectly, the frying left little or no discernible greasiness, and the meat was so moist and tender, you'd never know it wasn't slow-roasted. My only complaint with Hattie B's sandwich format was that I thought they could have used a better sandwich bread than the basic refined white bread slices, like a Kaiser, brioche, or pretzel roll.
Yeah, I cook with jalapeno, habenero, thai chilis, and other peppers pretty regularly (and sometimes ghost pepper in chili and stuff like that), but reaper is just something else, that sandwich was far past my wheelhouse, lol. There were a few years where I was into really hot sauces and could stomach some reaper (I did try The End and the One Chip Challenge), but my palate has since chilled out quite a bit.
No offense, but maybe your pallete is just conditioned that way?
I can't imagine praising fast food for being anything other than fast. Otherwise, I avoid it all, but entirely.
I can't imagine they're not taking other fast food into account as the standard to beat. There's an objective difference in quality between different chains, even if you hold them all as beneath you. Compare a McChicken to a Chick-fil-a to a Popeye's sandwich. If you seriously think they're all identical, you may have an overinflated sense of authority about it, because everyone I know has strong and justified opinions and preferences between them. Sure, call them all trash if you want, but to imply that all preferences outside your taste are somehow ingenuously rooted is pretty damn self-righteous.
Yeah, this is very snobbish. Popeye's tastes good. If you're too haughty for it, that's your loss.
Yeah, I definitely have no clue how to cook, and I'm definitely defending corporate interests by pointing out that different things are different.
Redacted for irrelevance
A decent number of world renowned chefs would say otherwise.
It’s perfectly fair to say you don’t like it - taste is always going to be personal, and then even within that it’s going to vary by where and when you tried it. I fucking loved the Popeye’s by my old place, got super excited when they finally opened a branch in the UK where I am now (pretty damn good, but only like 75% as good as the US one), and then twice made the mistake of ordering from their delivery-only UK option (actively unpleasant to eat, at least from whatever dark kitchen serves my area).
It just seems a bit elitist to imply that someone only likes it because that’s what they’re used to, rather than because it’s actually good food. Tarring all of “fast food” with the same brush is difficult, too, just because of how many things that could mean - is it the US influenced cuisine, the speed, the fact it’s part of a chain, the fact it’s counter service, the price? Because I can think of some pretty amazing restaurants that cut across any three of those at least.
Yikes! Hot take!
Look, I know a lot of fast food isn't great but calling all fast food nothing but fast is like saying all non apple computers are nothing but cheap. Maybe not a great analogy but damn dude.
Since no one has really answered the question "why" here is my two cents, three reasons:
I used to think I wasn't a big fan of typical fried chicken (outside of tenders), and then my in-laws introduced me to Popeyes and I learned KFC was abysmal in comparison. There is something about the combo of salt/onion powder/garlic powder that tickles my salt cravings perfectly and Popeyes has the best wow factor in theirs for fast food chicken.
While homemade fried chicken is better, the times I have done so are usually messy and I'm not the biggest fan of deep frying at home. So Popeyes offers that for the rare times I have a craving.
But as of late, I've been more so on the chicken finger craze and Slim Chickens are pretty tasty. Zaxby's an old favorite though because there's a certain zang in them that is complimented by Zax sauce.
Raising Canes is absolute bottom tier and I will never understand how they can have a line as long as Chick-fil-A's. This is a hill I am willing to die on if any LSU fans come out. I mean this all in good humor though!
Check out Canadian (they’re from Newfoundland) chain Mary Brown’s - they used to just be back east but a bunch have sprung up in the lower mainland recently. They’re a much, much higher quality KFC and their Big Mary chicken sandwich is pretty great.
So popeyes has a special (probably clogged) place in my heart. When I was in Uni it was my "Welcome back to the South" food to refuel on during short layovers along the multi-flight trip back home.
Their chicken strips in particular are consistently perfect hyper-crunchy lengths of magic with just the perfect amount of heat.
This has not gone unnoticed by the food world. Seems Wylie Dufresne of NYC's WD-50, the celebrated and now closed mecca of moreish molecular gastronomy, took a special liking to them due to a franchise opening up close to his restaurant. It's been noted that Dufresne has gone as far as serving it at his wedding and, in at least one occurrence, payed a courier to express-drive a party box of strips along with russian caviar to other restaurateur friends (I believe it was David Chang) so they could celebrate the opening of their new establishment in style.
I know fried chicken was served off and on at WD-50 over the years so I can only imagine these might have been Dufresne testing and refining the recipe he would put to paper for a friend's cookbook all about fried chicken. Expect to learn things you didn't want to about this; getting that punch of flavor involves making a devil deal with the sodium and buttermilk gods, misusing spice packets, and making a bit of a mess to nail that crunchy texture.
Thankfully the recipe and some of the notes were made available on serious eats for us all to enjoy (though the book is awesome too): https://www.seriouseats.com/popeyes-style-chicken-tenders-and-biscuits-from-fried-and-true and if you want some more information, here's the relevant excerpt of that part of the book from my personal copy https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hrG5r8jDFuIQY3H8WRdVzY7jutkSMpaK/view?usp=sharing
Enjoy!
My favorite fried chicken place where I live is a Vietnamese-inspired restaurant. Hear me out - their wings are to die for. The cook has a delicate hand on the deep fryer - we've never had anything come out greasy. The batter used is a gently seasoned rice flour mix that's crisp without overpowering the meat underneath. And lime juice, fish sauce, garlic, and Thai chili pepper was meant by the gods as a perfect fried food condiment. They do ribs the same way, and my spouse swears they're the best he's ever had.
I have no idea if this will ever be compatible with a fast food serving model, and don't really care as long as I can get this food near home.
I had Popeye's once in South Florida, and found it pretty "meh". The seasonings are well-balanced, but it's too salty. The meat is evenly cooked and stays juicy, unlike most other chain fried chicken, so I'm assuming they buttermilk-brine it. I guess uniformity and edibility win bonus points in the fast food realm, but there's nothing particularly distinctive about it otherwise. [Footnote: Avoid the Pollo Tropical chain, unless you like "grilled" dried-out steam table food.]
I don't eat fast food regularly, especially Popeyes, but when I do have it I find it to be extremely hit or miss depending on the location. I've had some truly great sandwiches from there, but I've also had some pretty terrible ones. I feel like most fast food chicken has gone pretty far down hill in the last few years.
For a day to day, consistently, great chicken sandwich, my go to is Wendy's (spicy) Asiago Ranch Chicken Club. Just a great sandwich.
Popeyes is definitely good. I also really like Dave's Hot Chicken, both for their sliders and tenders. It gets actually spicy too the higher up you go on the heat scale!
Agreed, Nashville-style hot chicken is the one true fried chicken. Except for Korean fried chicken.
We just got a Dave's in Minneapolis and I've been there a couple times now. It rocks! Especially for like $12.
How is Dave's for non-spicy people? I have a very low spice tolerance compared to most people. There is a Dave's really close to where I live but I've never gone in cause "Hot Chicken" implies spicy, though maybe that have mild options, I don't know.
They have many different spice levels going all the way down to "no spice", so I think they'll definitely have something that fits your spice profile 😄
No idea but I wish they had one closer to me (we have one close enough we can eat at it but it's a chore going to and I have to really want it to bother going that far for fast food).
I'd eat at it more and eat Chic Fil A less (I like Chic Fil A's food. I don't like their politics. Unfortunately for me it's hard for me to forego food for politics... or else I'd also be a vegetarian. But if popeye's was closer I'd have a very good alternative).
One way to ease a guilty conscience is that any time you give money to those Chick-fil-A fucks, donate the same amount of money to The Trevor Project. Everybody has a vice. Just try to minimize the damage.
From the comments I am noticing that the consistency isn’t quite the same everywhere. I’ve been to multiple locations across BC and Alberta, and it’s been good each time.
No offence taken though! Everyone likes different things. On the positive side of things, what do you like?
I like the Big Mac as well. My only issue with it is the patties. They are too thin and it’s not enough of that meaty texture I want from a burger. However, the Double Big Mac also just doesn’t cut it for me. I’m not a fan of the patties, and adding more of them doesn’t make it better. What I do now is I order a double quarter pounder, no ketchup or mustard, and add Big Mac sauce. That takes the cake for me on that front.
I’m not sure if you have seen this, but it’s a YouTube channel called Jolly. It’s an episode of them putting various things in a Big Mac. It’s hilarious, but also some pretty great ideas come from it.
https://youtu.be/qmwW5MAmEx4?si=ktx70C3Rj8WAmlRT
The quarter pounder trick is a game changer. It is a better patty by far and it makes a much better burger.
If you liked the suggestion for Jolly, I would also suggest Sorted Food and Fallow. Both of those are more cooking related, with Fallow being a restaurant. I really enjoy the content on all three channels for different reasons.
Let me know if you end up trying that quarter pounder and whether you like it. Hopefully it gets you an even better Big Mac experience!
If you wanna get really crazy, take a double quarter pounder, take a mcchicken, take off a bun and throw it between the two quarter pounders, add some signature sauce :) You'll feel really bad about it but it's just too good
That’s like a bigger and better sounding version of the McGangbang. Seriously, that is actually a thing. I had never considered doing it on this scale, but I want to try this.
Also, I love how I posted about Popeyes and I’m having a great conversation regarding custom McDonalds burgers.
People used to give me weird looks when I called it a mcgangbang lol but yes it's basically that but better!!
Oh absolutely! I’m used to people looking at me like I’m certifiably insane though. It’s a hilarious name for the Frankenstein of a sandwich.
I have to try that idea though. It doesn’t help that I’m trying to lose a bit of weight, but that’s what cheat meals are for.
You think no one agrees that the most iconic burger in the world is good?
Bojangles is easily the correct answer. Not only do they make the best chicken, they also have the best biscuits. Don't even get me started on a Bo'berry biscuit.
As much as I hate living in the south, Bojangles is one of the few things that make it a little better. I really wish they were everywhere though.
I promise I'm not an ad, despite sounding like one and this being my first comment, haha.
Hard agree. Any time I find myself back in Bojangles territory, getting a cajun filet biscuit and a sweet tea from Bojangles becomes a priority for me.
North Carolina native here, home state of bojangles. Popeyes is better and i will fight about this.
That said, there’s way better places in Asheville.
I dunno why people have such a thing for Bojangles. Everything is so greasy there, and I'm pretty sure my local one barely changes the fryer oil.
I think my local Waffle House has better and less greasy food than my local Bojangles.
That being said, Popeyes is better but if I'm gonna have fried chicken I'd rather brine and fry it at home in a big ass cast iron pan.
It's not hard to make good fried chicken, the hardest part is waiting for it to brine overnight.
Bojangles is in a really awkward state right now. The good locations are really good. Better than Popeyes. Biscuits are beautiful, chicken is crispy and delicious. A solid experience.
However, when it's bad, it's real bad. And if that's all you experienced, then I don't blame you for not liking it. Still better than KFC though.
I legit remember Bojangles being good back in the day (late 90s to early-mid 00s?) and sometimes some Bo Rounds just hit the spot with your dipping sauce of choice - mostly cause its hard to over-fry potatoes.
I'm a bit older so I guess I remember Bojangles being good, and now it feels like most fast foods I used to think were at least passable now seem to be very much more micro-location based - probably due to less people wanting to work in shitty food service jobs, and I've been there too, just in a popular non-fast food restaurant and bar in my area.
So I can't blame locations around me as much as I'd like to think, and I try to keep that in mind.