A Fried Chicken Taste Test: Regular Joe vs. Gourmet Joe

Discussion Policy

Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

By Joe Heim

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 4, 2008

If we are what we eat, America is becoming a nation of chickens. Or more precisely, a nation of chicken nuggets. Americans devoured 1.8 billion servings of nuggets in the 12 months that ended in November 2007, according to the NPD Group, an industry research company that tracks such things. (And at four to six nuggets a serving, well, you do the math.)

The fowl news doesn't end there. The fastest-growing food offering at U.S. restaurants is none other than the chicken sandwich: 3.7 billion consumed in that same time period. That's an increase of 8 percent from the year before. Why, it's no wonder our little feathered friends always look so nervous.

With demand for fried-chicken creations at an all-time high, the Sunday Source decided to take a look at the nugget and sandwich offerings at some of the country's finest fast-food emporiums -- especially those with a big stake in the fried bird biz. To get both a cultured and a low-brow take, The Post's high-standards Food section editor, Joe Yonan, joined me, Sunday Source's resident fatso, for a day of taste-testing. Here's what we found.

Chick-fil-A

Chicken sandwich

Yonan says: All in all, the purist's chicken sandwich: nothing to distract from the flavor of the tender breast except a little hit of pickle.

Heim says: Kind of mushy but not in an awful way. The chicken has sort of a sweet taste.

Chicken nuggets

Yonan says: Fabulous, fresh and soft without being mushy.

Heim says: Yeah, but the buttermilk ranch sauce is like dipping them in a sweat sock.

Skin crispiness

Yonan says: Chick-fil-A doesn't really do crispy, especially without skin.