Another Fried Chicken Sandwich: A Review of Golden Chick's Go at the Trend

There’s a lot more going on right now than chicken. But there is also chicken going on.

Richardson-based Golden Chick noticed that many of us spent the latter part of last year focused on fast food chicken sandwiches.

In art, originality counts for a lot, but in fast food it doesn’t, so Golden Chick figured they’d capitalize on the craze by making their own entry in the race.

It's a mixture of funny and sad to imagine the pitch meeting for this sandwich. I figure one exec said, "Those Popeyes guys are sure getting a boost from this. It might take us a couple months to work one up, but surely the nation will still be focused primarily on talking about chicken sandwiches." Then one person in the corner said, "Yeah, as long as there isn’t a 100-year plague that runs concurrent to the largest civil unrest in living memory, we’ll be fine!" And then the whole room laughed the way Leonardo DiCaprio laughs in Wolf of Wall Street.

In general I do have a soft spot for Golden Chick. For one, they have delicious chicken tenders. But for another, I feel like they really got jobbed by Chicken Express. Golden Chick came first, and anyone who’s eaten both places knows it’s the same chicken.

I don’t understand what kind of underhanded reading of the relevant copyright laws allows this, but it doesn’t seem right to me. So I guess Golden Chick ripping off Popeyes might be a classic “two wrongs make a right” situation.

The sandwich itself is the same construction as the rest of the wave: a fluffy bun, several pickle slices, a fried boneless breast and a zesty sauce.

The man in the drive-thru asked me if I wanted cheese on mine. I felt kind of bound by duty to at least try it, so I said sure. I had misgivings about how a slice of cheddar was going to interact with the sauce, but it was fine. Still though, it felt a little out of place.

The roll is intended to be a larger version of their classic, perfect dinner rolls that come with any combo. The one I had fell short of that lofty standard. It was pretty much just a regular bun.

The chicken was not nearly as crunchy as your standard Golden Chick tenders. It was quite sweet. I would say that’s the biggest differentiator between this sandwich and the other options: If you prefer some sweetness in your bite, I could see you thinking this one was a little bit ahead of the competition.

But that’s not me, so I’d say it’s pretty average. I have no problem with it, but I couldn’t see going out of my way to eat one again.

Maybe if I had already had five Popeyes sandwiches that week and needed a change-up, I’d go with this. Or more likely, I’d just order a whole mess of those Golden Chick tenders.