Fast Food Review: Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich from Chick-fil-A
It seems that Chick-fil-A offers healthier choices than most fast food restaurants. The Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich is a good example of one of those offerings. With only 260 calories and 3 grams of fat, you can watch your caloric and fat intake while still enjoying a scrumptious sandwich. The sandwich consists of a grilled boneless chicken breast which is marinated in special seasonings and served on a toasted golden wheat bun. It is complimented by two dill pickle slices (which seem to be a standard at Chick-fil-A), a heap of fresh green leaf lettuce and sliced tomato. It is served with a packet of Honey Roasted BBQ sauce.
The packaging is a styrofoam carton that barely holds the sandwich. Upon opening it, the first thing you notice is the wheat bun. The fresh wheat bun is very lightly toasted and it held the sandwich together well. It had a nice heartier flavor that your ordinary buns don’t have. You also notice the over-abundance of lettuce. Although the lettuce was fresh and crisp, there was so much of it that I had to take half of it off. The two slices of tomato didn’t provide much flavor and didn’t seem quite as fresh. That could be chalked up to the fact that we aren’t really in prime tomato season. The two dill pickles chips are placed on the bottom bun underneath the chicken breast (as is the case with most CFA chicken sandwiches). The pickles are not overpowering, but add a nice touch of flavor to the sandwich. As for the chicken breast, it is very tasty and is a good size, actually hanging over the bun. There isn’t really any grease with this sandwich and it has a very clean, fresh taste to it. The chicken was very moist and could really be eaten without adding any kind of sauce. I’m not a big fan of Honey Roasted BBQ sauce so I chose to eat my sandwich with their special “Chick-fil-A” sauce (which is a Honey Mustard/BBQ sauce that is made for their Chick-n-Strips). Obviously, the sauce made the sandwich a little messier.
Sauces: Just 2 of many Chick-fil-A has to offer
I’m not sure that this would be a good on-the-go sandwich as the condiments tend to slip off as you are eating it. Overall it is a healthy, filling sandwich. Too plain for some? Chick-fil-A also offers a “Chargrilled Chicken Club” that adds cheese and bacon to the mix.
- Pros: Good size chicken breast packed with flavor. Fresh tasty bun. Healthy choice.
- Cons: Chicken breast shaped so that it hangs over the bun. Bun isn’t as “toasty” as I had expected. An over-abundance of lettuce. A little pricey. Not a good selection for grubbing on the go.
Taste: 8.75/10
Value: 7.75/10
Grubbing on the Go: 6.50/10
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GrubGrade: 8.50/10 (Very Good)
(Overall GrubGrade is not an average)
Price: $3.39
Nutrition Facts:
Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich from Chick-fil-A
I’ve always loved this sandwich. So simple yet classic. Something a lot of FF places seem to be moving away from these days. All that being said, I think it would be cool if one day CFA let you customize the spicing or something…like giving you the option to have it cajun, bbq, or blackened. I know I always like that of my grilled chicken sandwiches at sit-down places.
1260 calories!!!?! I don’t believe it. I wonder how many nutrition fact sheets are accurate. Sounds like I might actually like this. I like the overabundance of lettuce, the bland tomatoes not so much. I’ve never actually eaten at a Chick-fil-A. Do you like them in general?
2Hi Bear,
The nutrition came straight from Chick-fil-A’s website, so hopefully it is accurate information. Of course, adding the sauces to the sandwich will increase the calories and fat. But it does come without sauce, so that you can choose to add your own. I do like Chick-fil-A a lot. They have awesome chicken wraps as well.
3260 probably is too low, but who cares. Even if it’s 100-150 calories more it’s still basically the healthiest thing you could order at any fast food place. I also love their chicken noodle soup (overpriced and all) and their waffle fries.
4I don’t know…How many calories could a wheat bun and a piece of grilled chicken really be anyways? 260 cal seems reasonable…no mayo or anything. Even though its low cal…it’s 1300mg of sodium. Still though, for fast food it’s super healthy. I’ve had this sandwich and the Honey BBQ sauce for it is really good.
5I’ve never had one despite eating at Chick-fil-A maybe 300 times cause I can’t pass up their regular Chick-Fil-A sandwich, those things are like crack cocaine to me. I could eat nothing but Chick-Fil-A’s for the rest of my life and be happy.
6I’m with Rob when it comes to Chick-Fil-A. Their regular sandwich is the best in the business. They’re good as is, or add a little ketchup and Texas Pete for some extra kick.
7I just followed you over here from fastfoodcritic and wanted to say I’m so glad you’re blogging. Yay!
8Interesting review, but I will probably never try this product because anything other than the regular Chick-fil-A sandwich is a downgrade from perfection.
9If you are trying to watch calories and find yourself at Chick-Fil-A this is the way to go. BUT, if you just can’t make yourself order one go with the nuggets. They are surprisingly low in calories for fried chicken.
10I went ahead and ordered this the other day and for ~300 calories (if you use the honey BBQ sauce) it was damn delicious.
I liked this bun better than the one on the regular Chick-fil-A sandwich.
11I’m in college, and our dorm has a Chick-fil-A downstairs that’s on the meal plan. I don’t eat fried food [personal/health reasons], so I end up getting this sandwich a lot and it’s really good. I always just tell them no lettuce and tomatoes.
12My family owns a Chick-fil-A restaurant, and I am employed there. After reading the previous comments, I wanted to assure everyone that the Chargrilled Chicken sandwich is, in fact, only 260 calories, and it’s very good. I eat it every day
Another thing that’s not common knowledge that may help is that none of our entree items are above 450 calories. In fact, the Original Chicken Sandwich is only right around 410. This is due to the fact that all of our chicken is pressure cooked rather than fried, which seals in moisture and flavor, while at the same time not absorbing as much of the oil.
For those of you who are as health conscious as me, check out the book ‘Eat This, Not That.’ It gives Chick-fil-A the highest grade out of all of the chain restaurants in the nation for nutrition. Another good resource is the nutrition facts counter on the Chick-fil-A website–you can build yourself a meal by clicking on entrees, sauces, sides, drinks, and desserts and it will count up the nutrition facts for you.
Hope this helps!
13Thanks for the info Amy…good stuff. As you can see from our reviews, there is a lot of CFA love on GrubGrade. The meal calculator on the CFA website is a great resource…I’m on it a few times a week.
“none of our entree items are above 450 calories”…good to know, I never really thought about it but now that you bring it up, I’ve noticed I don’t see anything (except for maybe the shakes) in the 500cal + area.
I love the wraps at CFA too…I’ve been meaning to review all 3 in one big post because I’ve been getting them for years…but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’ve had great pictures ready since last year!
What store do you work at?
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