When McDonald’s introduced the new “Southern Style” chicken sandwich, there were many eyebrows raised due to the obvious similarities with the classic sandwich from fast food competitor Chick-fil-A. Yours truly interviewed a CFA rep to get their take on the copy-cat situation, and you can read that exclusive interview here. Now, six weeks later, I’ve had a chance to eat the McDonald’s sandwich on many different occasions, and feel that I can accurately comment and compare it to the item from CFA.

Is McDonald’s sandwich as good as the Chick-fil-A? The short answer is No, but the differences are less than expected. I’ve touched on each main aspect below.

Seasoning and Taste - The McDonald’s chicken breast tastes very much like the CFA. There is no doubt they spent a lot of time and effort studying the competition. If you close your eyes and take a single bite of the McDonald’s sandwich, you might think you’ve just sampled a Chick-fil-A. It has a good flavor, and it’s a close match.

Size Matters - On average, I’ve found the slab of chicken in the McDonald’s sandwich to be consistently smaller and less meaty. The Chick-fil-A breast is bigger.

Moist and Juicy - MickeyD’s chicken has a tendency to be a little dry when compared to the moist and juicy bird on the Chick-fil-A. I’m assuming that’s because it’s a frozen pre-breaded filet, as opposed to fresh chicken hand-breaded by CFA daily. Aside from this dryness, I found the filets are quality cuts of chicken, tasty and satisfying.

Breading - The McDonald’s breading has a similar appearance, but it doesn’t have nearly as many bumps and ridges. The irregularities in the CFA coating produce a nice range of textures from a thin and tender skin-like quality, to slightly chewy in the thicker spots. McDonald’s breading is more even and uniformly applied, which leads to each bite tasting and feeling exactly like the last one. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I enjoy the variety in the CFA crust. It feels more natural to me.

Buns - The buns are also very similar, but Chick-fil-A does a better job of buttering them. Sometimes my McDonald’s sandwiches had barely a drop on the top bun. And they don’t seem to be toasting them at all. The bun is light and fluffy, but would really benefit from a little toasty goodness. I’m not sure why they skipped that step.

Pickles - There’s not much difference here. Chick-fil-A’s pickles have crinkled ridges compared to McDonald’s plain straight-cut pickles. They both taste fine, and neither will disappoint. Some people remove the pickles, making it even less an issue.

Chicken, Bread and Pickles. With only three main ingredients, there’s nothing to hide behind. No cheese, sauce or layers of vegetables. It’s a simple sandwich, but those three ingredients have to be Spot-On to really make it work. Chick-fil-A has made that combination a legend in the fast food industry. McDonald’s effort to reproduce the formula is a success for the most part, but falls short of the original.

The Southern Style Chicken Sandwich from McDonald’s is better than I expected, and the overall taste and quality is solid, especially considering the massive scale on which they’re prepared. It’s not as good as the Chick-Fil-A, but it’s a BIG improvement over the McChicken sandwich. This item is certainly not going to lure away any fans of CFA, but it’s good enough to make some new fans of McDonald’s.

Price: $2.79 / Website: McDonalds.com

Fast Food Critic Score: B

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Nutrition Facts - McDonald’s Southern Style Chicken Sandwich.

Calories - 400
Calories from Fat - 150
Total Fat - 17 grams
Carbs - 39 grams
Saturated Fat - 3 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 45 milligrams
Sodium - 1030 milligrams
Protein - 24 grams

Holy Cow — It’s time to break out your cow suit and leave your wallet out to pasture. On Friday, July 11, the Chick-fil-A chain will celebrate its annual Cow Appreciation Day event by offering a free meal to any customer who isn’t “too chicken” to visit any of the chain’s nearly 1,400 participating restaurants fully dressed as a cow.

Customers fully dressed as a cow will be rewarded with a free Chick-fil-A Meal, which includes an entree of choice, a side item and a Dr Pepper (or another beverage of choice). And for those who are a little timid to wear spots from head to toe, Chick-fil-A will award a complimentary entree to customers partially dressed in cow attire, such as a cow-spotted scarf, purse, hat or other accessory.

The July 11 event marks Chick-fil-A’s fourth annual Cow Appreciation Day celebration. Last year’s event — and the resulting turnout — confirmed that Chick-fil-A has a strong following of customers willing to go to great lengths to show their appreciation for cows. Thousands of customers visited Chick-fil-A restaurants across the country dressed in cow-themed costumes, ranging from simple cow-spotted t-shirts to full cow suits complete with furry ears, cow bells and homemade sandwich boards with personalized renditions of Chick-fil-A’s “Eat Mor Chikin” Cow messages.

Source: CFA. Visit Chick-fil-A.com to find a location near you.

A couple weeks ago I reviewed the limited time Southwest version of Wendy’s Chicken Caesar Salad, and it was excellent. That item is gone from the regular menu now, but hopefully will return again soon. I will keep you posted. Meanwhile, Wendy’s has made a change to their entire salad line, and I’m happy to report it’s a good one.

What’s new? The chicken. Imagine my delight as I witnessed a Wendy’s employee grab a whole grilled filet and then slice it right on the spot, and place it on the bed of lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. There is no more pre-cubed pieces of meat added ahead of time, resulting in cold chicken. Now it’s warm and freshly sliced.

They place the filet on top with the slices grouped together still forming the shape of the solid hunk they once were. There’s something about this presentation method that really appeals to me. I can see exactly how much chicken I’m getting, and can choose to mix it up, or leave it on the side. Plus, when you’re a burger and taco guy eating a salad, it makes you feel better to have that big pile of meat sitting there.

Warm versus Cold. The cold chicken from previous salads was not a problem. It was tasty and refreshing. I wouldn’t necessarily call the warm chicken better, just different. The salad takes on a new character when the temperatures combine. In a way similar to eating a hamburger or chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato, the contrast of warm meat and cold crisp veggies is a treat for the senses.

The regular menu Chicken Caesar continues the satisfying experience started by the Southwest version. The romaine lettuce is crisp and fresh. The tomatoes are plump and ripe, and the shredded Parmesan cheese is delicious. The warm chicken is moist and juicy, lightly seasoned with a mild natural flavor. It’s not as fancy as it’s limited time cousin, and lacks the spicy kick, but it’s still a mighty good salad.

As always, the dressing and croutons are served on the side, in individual packets. This keeps them fresh, and allows you to control the amount and manner in which they are distributed. The “Supreme Caesar” salad dressing comes from Marzetti. It’s natural and contains no preservatives. It’s good dressing, though not anything special. The croutons also come from the same company, and are quite tasty. I could eat the crunchy little garlic bread pieces as a stand-alone snack. Sometimes I do.

The Chicken Caesar Salad from Wendy’s is very good. The new serving and delivery method of the chicken is a nice change. I still prefer the bolder flavors and spicy kick of the Southwest version, but this is a solid alternative and worthy of my $5.

Price: $4.99 / Website: Wendys.com

Fast Food Critic Score: B+

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Nutrition Facts - Wendy’s Chicken Caesar Salad.

Calories - 490
Calories from Fat - 300
Total Fat - 33 grams
Carbs - 20 grams
Saturated Fat - 7 grams
Trans Fat - 0.5 grams
Cholesterol - 110 milligrams
Sodium - 1200 milligrams
Protein - 31 grams

Grandy’s chicken-fried-chicken is BIG. Definitely one of the largest single pieces of chicken you can find at a fast food chain. The appropriately named “Texas Size” piece of meat is a butterfly cut whole chicken breast. What does that mean? Instead of cutting the breast in half (like most filets you find on sandwiches), or into strips or nuggets, they slice the whole breast partially thru and unfold the meat to create a single large butterfly shape. A whole chicken breast is very thick, and this process helps meat to cook evenly. And by keeping things in tact, you get one big hunk.

The coating is not crunchy, it’s soft and bread-like, with only the outer edges getting slightly chewy. It’s dotted with large specks of black pepper. The chicken inside is moist, plump and juicy, with all the flavor and character I would expect from fresh natural chicken, even though they’re cut and frozen at a central location, then shipped to each store. Every piece is a different shape and slightly different size. A reminder you are eating something prepared by human hands, not formed by a machine.

They are topped with Grandy’s white cream gravy. It’s the same gravy used on their mashed potatoes and regular chicken-fried-steaks. Thick and creamy, with more black pepper and a trace of beef flavor. Delicious, albeit starchy.

Grandy’s does not publish nutrition information, but the official size of this piece of chicken is said to be 10 ounces. I can tell you first hand, many are bigger. I’ve had some where it’s difficult to keep the lid of the container shut because it’s bulging out both sides. I could slice it in half, and make two full sized chicken sandwiches.

Imagine your favorite chicken filet. Double it’s size, then bread it, deep fry, cover with gravy and treat it like a chicken-fried-steak. Except it’s chicken. Got it? Then get it.

Grandy’s Texas Size Chicken Fried Chicken is wonderful. It’s a taste and flavor that’s different than your typical fast food. It comes served as a dinner plate, with your choice of two vegetables and a fresh baked roll. In today’s case it was Fried Okra (very good) and Corn (average). I also plan to review those, and the other choices separately, including Green Beans, Corn, Fried Okra, Seasoned Rice, Mashed Potatoes, and Baked Beans. I’ve already reviewed the rolls. They’re great. At a cost of $7.29 this is expensive by fast food standards, but keep in mind it’s a complete meal.

Price: $7.29 — Website: Grandys.com

Fast Food Critic Score: A

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Nutrition Facts - Grandy’s Texas Size Chicken Fried Chicken.

The company has not published nutrition information for this item. Fast Food Critic makes a point to supply the nutrition facts with with each review, and will update this once the info is available.

I love BBQ chicken when it’s chopped and shredded up, mixed thick with sauce, then slapped between a couple pieces of bread. It’s one of my favorite all-time sandwiches. There aren’t many fast food versions, but KFC certainly has a fine offering.

Tender white and dark meat chicken (Hooray, dark meat) blended with tangy honey barbecue sauce. No cheese, lettuce or veggies, just BBQ chicken and bread. Simple and delicious. It’s the Sloppy Joe of chicken sandwiches, but less messy. The two biggest problems facing this sandwich are availability and price confusion. Availability because some KFC stores don’t have it, and those who do are limited in quantity and frequently run out. Price confusion because their are two sizes of Honey BBQ. The standard sandwich is $2.39 but the smaller Snacker version is only $0.99.

I can’t do anything about availability, but I can help determine which sandwich is a better value. This stems from a conversation I overheard standing in line at KFC where a lady instructed her kids to get 2 snackers instead of 1 normal sandwich. She told them it was a better deal, and said they would get more BBQ chicken that way.

Hearing that claim got me thinking (always dangerous), and I knew this called for some further investigation. After enjoying several examples of each type sandwich recently, from three different KFC locations, I can report the amount of filling was consistent, and the sandwiches I’m using today are accurate representations. The task for me now is simple and straight forward — Carefully remove the BBQ chicken mixture from 2 Snacker versions and 1 Regular version, and see which is greater.

Not quite as easy as it sounds, since the barbecue mixture has a way of sticking to the bread. Once the bulk had been removed, I used a spoon to gently scrape the buns clean of any remaining chicken and sauce. I was able to remove 99%.

The results are clear — 2 Honey BBQ Snackers for 99 cents each are more food for less money, compared to buying the full-size Honey BBQ Sandwich, and it’s the exact same BBQ chicken mixture. Never doubt a Mom with hungry kids to feed.

Now I have two big piles of BBQ chicken and a bunch of empty buns. You might think I’m going to re-assemble them. Not exactly. Instead I’ve piled as much as possible onto a single Snacker bun, and created my own personal SUPER Snacker.

The Honey BBQ Chicken from KFC is delicious, whatever size sandwich you choose. However, after seeing with my own eyes that 2 Snackers is a better bargain and more food then the full-size version, I will be adjusting my future orders. For about 40 cents less, you get more BBQ chicken. There’s also extra bread; two small buns instead of one large one, which makes it even more filling. And if that’s too much bread, just combine them into one sandwich. You can build a SUPER Snacker too!

Price: $.99 / $2.39 — Website: KFC.com

Fast Food Critic Score: A

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Nutrition Facts - KFC, Honey BBQ Snacker.

Calories - 210
Calories from Fat - N/A
Total Fat - 3 grams
Carbs - 32 grams
Saturated Fat - 0.5 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 40 milligrams
Sodium - 530 milligrams
Protein - 14 grams

Nutrition Facts - KFC, Honey BBQ Sandwich.

Calories - 280
Calories from Fat - N/A
Total Fat - 3.5 grams
Carbs - 40 grams
Saturated Fat - 1.0 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 60 milligrams
Sodium - 780 milligrams
Protein - 22 grams

McDonald’s recently gave the “Moms’ Quality Correspondents” access to one of their poultry facilities to learn how Chicken McNuggets are made, so they can give their children the answer to that often puzzling question. According to the press release this is “unprecedented”. From what I can tell, these Moms work for McDonald’s. They have their own website, McDonaldsMom.com which feels much like an advertisement, or pseudo reality TV show. These are not people off the street, like you and me. I’m not really sure how “unprecedented” or unbiased we can expect it to be.

I can understand wanting to defend their product. Chicken McNuggets have been blamed for the ills of the world. More than almost any other fast food item over the years, they’re the one I’ve seen the strangest, and most numerous stories about. But the reality is, they’re not that bad, and many stories are false or exaggerated.

Anyway, I’m not sure this is the best way to convince skeptics of the wholesome nature of the Chicken McNugget. We shall see. In addition to the McNuggets, they apparently have a whole series of tours to various McDonald’s facilities arranged, and there will be videos, interviews and all kinds of good McDonald’s coverage to follow.

Here’s a couple highlights of the press release.

“Beginning their tour at Keystone’s hatchery, the Moms learned about food quality and safety protocols, including incubation operations and traceability — the process used to trace chicken menu items in restaurants all the way back to the egg. They also learned about McDonald’s stringent animal welfare practices in place to ensure safe handling of the birds. The Moms then visited a broiler farm to witness how the chickens are cared for, fed and nurtured until fully grown. Keystone Foods representatives also discussed the bio-security measures that are taken to ensure McDonald’s strict food safety standards are met.

On the second day of the tour, the Moms visited the food production facility where they saw first-hand how the meat used to make Chicken McNuggets is carved from boneless, white meat chicken breasts. The same white meat is used in all McDonald’s premium chicken menu items including Premium Chicken Salads and Sandwiches as well as Snack Wraps.” — McDonald’s USA

Visit McDonaldsMom.com to learn more, and follow their adventures.

I’m not normally a salad guy, so let me say that upfront. It’s not often when visiting fast food restaurants that I even acknowledge the existence of salads on the menu, so it was a surreal experience finding myself ordering one. Furthermore, salads depend so greatly on the freshness of ingredients and assembly, that for many years the choices were few in number, and less than satisfactory in quality. Today several of the fast food giants are offering freshly made salads, daily. One of the most interesting is a limited time creation from Wendy’s called the Southwest Chicken Caesar Salad.

Wendy’s calls it “Caesar with an Attitude”. I think that’s a good description, as I was pleasantly surprised by the bold combinations of flavors and textures. From the first bite, the influence of the Southwest was obvious. The roasted corn and black beans, combined with seasoned chunks of chicken breast and Wendy’s spicy southwest dressing produce a taste reminiscent of a Mexican dish. Add shredded Parmesan cheese, bite sized grape tomatoes, and garlic croutons — this salad is loaded.

Sitting underneath those flavorful toppings is a core of Romaine lettuce, which is washed, chopped and prepared fresh daily at each location. After trying this salad on numerous occasions now, I can happily report the locations in my part of the country do a consistent job of keeping things crisp, cold and fresh tasting.

Don’t worry meat lovers, the chicken included in the salad is nice sized chunks of whole breast. Real meat, not over processed and pressed forms. The dressing and croutons come on the side, in individually sealed packets. That’s perfect, because it ensures the croutons will be crunchy and fresh, and the dressing will be applied as liberally, or as sparingly as you prefer. The rest of the ingredients are assembled at the start of the day, by hand, and then refrigerated until ordered and served.

The Southwest Chicken Caesar Salad from Wendy’s is excellent. It tastes like a fresh salad I would make at home, but with more toppings and flavor then I would probably ever be willing to devote the time or effort to achieve. This is a big, hearty and satisfying salad. An entire meal in a bowl. Unfortunately it’s a “Limited Time” item, but hopefully they will receive enough positive feedback to keep it around, or bring it back soon. They continue to offer the rest of their trademarked “Garden Sensations” line of salads, including a regular Chicken Caesar without the Southwest ingredients.

Price: $4.99 — Website: Wendys.com

Fast Food Critic Score: A

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Nutrition Facts - Wendy’s Southwest Chicken Caesar Salad.

Calories - 490
Calories from Fat - 210
Total Fat - 24 grams
Carbs - 37 grams
Saturated Fat - 5 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 105 milligrams
Sodium - 1730 milligrams

Proof once again, that chipotle flavored foods and sauces are taking over the world. In 65 years, Kentucky Fried Chicken has only used 2 main recipes. Original and Extra Crispy. Today that changed. This information just in from the KFC newsroom. LOUISVILLE, Kentucky, May 28 — In 1940, Colonel Harland Sanders revolutionized fried chicken by introducing his now famous Original Recipe(R). Today, more than 65 years later, KFC is adding just its third fried chicken flavor to the menu — Smoky Chipotle Crispy. The new flavor joins Colonel Sanders’ Original Recipe, featuring a secret blend of 11 herbs and spices, as well as Extra Crispy(TM), which was introduced more than two decades ago.

A Secret Slow-Smoked Recipe.

“The new recipe receives its signature flavor from a secret recipe of slow-smoked chipotle peppers and other spices,” said Doug Hasselo, Chief Food Innovation Officer at KFC. “Our new Smoky Chipotle Crispy is designed to be the perfect combination of robust flavors with just the right kick,” Hasselo added. “We’re confident Colonel Sanders would have approved this new secret recipe. It truly is finger lickin’ good.”

KFC’s new Smoky Chipotle Crispy chicken is currently available in a bucket or as a plated meal for a limited time only. Visit KFC.com for specific details about the new Smoky Chipotle Crispy chicken and additional information on Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Carl’s Jr. is introducing a new Jalapeno Chicken Sandwich, and has produced several videos with the Sacramento Kings Cheerleaders doing a Chicken Dance to promote it. Here’s your chance to learn the chicken dance in this tutorial. And for making you watch it (lol) here’s a coupon for a Free Medium Coke with the purchase of the new sandwich. Valid until 6/30 at your favorite Carl’s Jr. location. Enjoy.

P.S. Here’s the cheerleaders performing the full routine, without the tutorial.

I have to give Burger King credit for being creative with their Chicken Tenders. Instead of copying the look and shape of McNuggets from McDonald’s, they added a bit of artistic flair to this otherwise boring segment. Plus, sometimes it’s just fun to play with food, and build things, like when we were kids. These bite-sized deep-fried chicken morsels are great for that purpose, and they make some cool photographs too.

But food sculpture aside, it’s hard to get too excited about them (or anybody else’s processed nuggets) because these products are basically the bottom of the fast-food chicken barrel. After they’re finished using the breast filets and top quality cuts for sandwiches, strips and salads, what’s left of the chicken meat gets chopped and mashed-up, then formed into the shapes we consume. There is real breast and rib meat involved, but it’s the left-over scraps. They also use Mechanically Separated Meat or MSM, which is a product and process used in the industry for over 40 years.

The Crown-Shaped Tenders are breaded, instead of battered like the McNuggets. The result is a looser, more bumpy grainy coating, complete with a few falling crumbs. There are nice sized chunks of black pepper laced thru-out the breading. There is not much of a crispy or crunchy sensation, but I wouldn’t call it soggy either. Just soft.

The chicken inside is similar to McNugget’s meat, with a texture that immediately identifies itself as being heavily processed. If you compare the close-up shot of the bitten Crown (below) with the close-up shot of the bitten McNugget, you will see they look almost the same. To me, they taste almost the same too, but the Burger King version might have a slight edge in seasoning. Keeping in mind both are bland.

This segment of fast-food is wildly popular with kids, but I don’t have any children of my own to ask for opinions. So instead I’ve recruited my good friend Ron James, a regular fast-food eater himself who’s fathered several of these miniature humans, and is working hard to keep them fed. I asked for their feelings, and the answer was short and sweet — they like McNuggets better than Tenders. RJ also shared a funny story with me about his youngest son. Sometimes he purchases the chicken sandwich at Jack In The Box, takes the chicken patty out of the bun, and tells his son it’s a Giant chicken nugget. Apparently he loves it, but has a tough time dipping the giant nugget into those little tiny containers of sauce. I laughed out-loud when he told me.

Anyway, in all fairness, I could probably ask another friend with kids and discover they prefer the Burger King variety. I really think it would go back and forth, because we are not comparing apples to oranges. These products are so similar, I feel it’s comes down to personal preference, more than a question of quality or value.

As with most nuggets and finger foods, these are perfect for dipping and offer a choice of sauces: Barbecue, Creamy Buffalo, Honey Mustard, Sweet and Sour, or Ranch.

NOTE: Burger King sold a product under the “Chicken Tenders” name before, and many people ‘think’ of that product when they see those words. The old Tenders were bigger, longer strips of chicken, not nuggets. BK discontinued them, and this current generation of crown-shaped nuggets inherited the name.

The Chicken Tenders (Crown-Shaped) from Burger King are a worthy competitor to the McNuggets. The fact is, they share far more in common than they differ. And quite honestly, neither taste ‘great’. They have a nice assortment of dipping sauces. I’m not a big fan of nuggets in general these days. My tastes have graduated to the more natural, higher quality strips and filets that are available. That said, I feel BK’s nuggets are every-bit as good as McDonald’s, but I don’t find them to be much better.

Fast Food Critic Score:3 out of 5 stars.

Nutrition Facts - Burger King, Chicken Tenders (8 piece).

Calories - 370
Calories from Fat - N/A
Total Fat - 23 grams
Carbs - 18 grams
Saturated Fat - 6 grams
Trans Fat - 3.5 grams
Cholesterol - 55 milligrams
Sodium - 870 milligrams

N/A = The company has not made the information available.