DISHED

by Rima Rafiq

This Week's Dish In the past couple months, the talk over chicken sandwiches has been nonstop. Publications such as Business Insider and Vox have all voiced their opinions on this dish. For instance, Business Insider compared chicken sandwiches from Chick-fil-a and Popeyes, and found the latter to be disappointing. Love them or hate them, restaurants are really upping their game and competing against each other for the best one. For this reason, I decided to test it out for myself.

Raising Cane's Raising Cane’s, a fast food restaurant most commonly located in the South, recently opened at 60 W. 63rd Street in Westmont. With only a few locations in Illinois, everyone was excited to try one so close to Hinsdale. When I first entered the restaurant on a Wednesday night, it was packed with people. I ordered the chicken sandwich, which included three tenders inside. I really enjoyed Cane’s sandwich because it had a subtle flavor with a kick of Cajun spice, salt, and pepper.

Price: $5.95 Photos by Rima Rafiq

Popeyes Popeyes, an affordable fast food restaurant located at 7518 S. Cass Ave in Darien, was in the news a couple months back for creating a spicy chicken sandwich to rival Chick-fil-a. When I took my first bite, I was definitely disappointed. Having heard good reviews on the sandwich, I expected it to taste better. However, it lacked any flavor and was pretty greasy for my taste. It tasted almost rubbery and didn’t include any lettuce or toppings to help further the flavor. The sandwich wasn’t worth finishing and I definitely would not order from Popeyes again given the lack of flavor and quality.

Price: $5.60

Chick-fil-a Chick-fil-a is an American staple located at 7101 S. Kingery Highway in Willowbrook. They specialize solely in chicken and breakfast items. Having tried their chicken sandwich multiple times, I’ve always liked their food. Their sandwich never disappoints and always has a great level of spice and flavor. In addition to the sandwich, Chick-fil-a offers their special sauce which only makes the sandwich taste even better. The meat was definitely much more high quality and had the perfect crisp texture along with pickles and spiced sauce.

Price: $5.85

The Verdict While I’m not a huge fan of fast food, I was excited to try out these sandwiches since there was so much controversy over the past couple of months. Each restaurant had a different take on such a simple dish. For example, Chick-fil-a’s had a ton of spice and flavor, while Raising Cane’s had a more subtle flavor. Popeyes didn’t taste like anything special and the lack of flavor and taste was evident. Both Chick-fil-a and Raising Cane’s did a great job, but, given the choice between the two, I’d definitely order Chick-fil-a’s chicken sandwich over Cane’s.