GrubGrade

When you think Arby’s, chances are you’re thinking roast beef. Likewise, if you’re thinking fast food ‘popcorn chicken,’ I’m guessing you’re either imagining KFC or Popeyes. But did you know Arby’s does fried Popcorn Chicken too?

I didn’t, at least not until I received an ad in a recent paper that came chock full of Arby’s coupons – including one for a free regular size order of Popcorn Chicken with the purchase of a fountain drink. Arby’s has been pushing a number of new menu items and concepts as of late (including a $1 Value Menu) but up until now I’ve never really given the chain much thought outside of their ubiquitous (but tasty) Roast Beef sandwiches. Nevertheless, having been on a chicken finger kick for weeks (and it being a ‘Fried Food Thursday’) I decided to scope out my local Arby’s. Let’s check out the ‘official’ designation’:

What’s better than something bite-sized, cripsy and tasty beyond belief? Popcorn chicken dipped in your choice of tangy BBQ Sauce or Sweet Honey Mustard. They’re ready to be eaten by the handful, so try some today!

I was sure glad I brought my coupon after scanning the menu board, because at $3.49 for a regular order these seemed to be a bit on the pricey side. To be fair, you’re getting significantly more chicken pieces than you would get in an order of Burger King’s Crown Shaped Tenders or McDonald’s McNuggets, and the meat definitely seemed to be of a higher quality than the stuff your getting at McDonald’s (interestingly enough, Arby’s doesn’t tout this product as all ‘white meat’). The ‘popcorn’ pieces themselves contain what I would describe as a home-style breading, which is of moderate thickness and brimming with specks of black pepper. (more…)

With a new McNugget sauce hitting McDonald’s restaurants for a limited time, I’ve had McNuggets on the brain for a couple of weeks now.  If you’ve got a dollar, a 4-piece is in your future.  While I’m sure that a majority of the readers know all about McNuggets, I still thought it would be fun to revisit this classic and feature them in a review.  Every kids favorite and yet another food I have yet to grow-up from, McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets.

For a lot of you, McNuggets were probably your introduction to the world of McDonald’s.  As a kid I can remember sitting in the back seat of the family station wagon on a Saturday afternoon, patiently waiting for my Happy Meal with McNuggets.  It’s really such a simple item and that’s likely why it appeals most to kids with simple tastes. (more…)

Anyone that knows me, knows that I do not like spicy food.   Popeyes is famous for their Louisiana-style of cooking with an array of Cajun seasoning and spices.  A visit to Popeyes for me has always been a very rare occasion when I am in the mood for the Popcorn Shrimp meal.  I do love the flavor of Popeyes breading even though it lights my mouth on fire (I know, I’m a wimp).   Because of the spiciness, Popeyes has never been a preferred place for me. I tried the Loaded Chicken Wrap recently and it quickly became a reason to stop by Popeyes more often.

The Loaded Chicken Wrap is on the Popeyes “Big Deals” menu. (more…)

Most fast food restaurants now serve some type of chicken wrap.  The Colonel is no exception and a cheaper version of the KFC Twister is a headliner for under $2.00.  Among the many expanded menu items that Kentucky Fried Chicken offers, their Toasted Wrap will appeal to those looking for a quick grab-and-go snack.

The Toasted Wrap is described by KFC as:

A perfect on-the-go snack, KFC’s new Toasted Wrap features a flour tortilla filled with a crispy all-white meat chicken strip, crisp lettuce, pepper mayo and topped with a three-cheese blend, grill-pressed for a warm toasted taste.

The first thing that is noticable about this wrap is the packaging it comes in.  KFC goes above its competitors with the Toasted Wrap “sleeve”.  It makes grubbing on the go a breeze.  The tortilla is definitely toasted (unlike the McDonald’s warmed Snack Wraps) and holds together in a way that there is nothing becoming limp and falling apart.  Check out those pressed grill marks…it’s a compact package with a slight crispness to the tortilla.  This wrap isn’t overly stuffed, but the ingredients are decent in the taste department. A good example of the wrap not being too packed would be 2 inches of bare tortilla on your first bite…but what would you expect from $1.49. The crispy chicken strip is all-white meat and is tender but a little dry.  The lettuce isn’t as fresh and crisp as I’d like and the the three-cheese blend is melted into the other ingredients for a mouthful of flavor.  The pepper mayo stands out, it gives the wrap a little bit of a kick without being too overbearing.  This pepper mayo could be a deal breaker for some because it does sort of take over the flavor of the wrap.

Overall, I would choose this wrap over McDonald’s Snack Wraps.  The wrap itself may be a little lighter, but the quality is a tad better…(as is the packaging).  This really isn’t something to fill up on.  It’s a value menu item that will be a decent snack when short on funds.  If you are in need of a quick and cheap grub fix, the KFC toasted wrap is worth a try.

• Pros: Great packaging for grubbing on the go.  I liked the pepper mayo.
• Cons: One wrap alone is not very filling.

Taste:  6.75/10

Value:  7.00/10

Grubbing on the Go:  8.50/10

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GrubGrade:  6.75/10 (Average)

(Overall GrubGrade is not an average)

Price:  $1.49

Nutrition Info - KFC Toasted Wrap

Calories – 360

Total Fat – 20 grams

Saturated Fat – 6 grams

Cholesterol – 40 milligrams

Sodium – 730 milligrams

Carbs – 27 grams

Sugars – 2 grams

Dietary Fiber – 2 grams

Protein – 17 grams

You usually can’t go wrong with fast food chicken nuggets…(unless maybe you’re Burger King Crown-Shaped Tenders).  Nuggets are one of the better food items for grubbing on the go.  Sometimes it’s best not to take it slow and savor the flavor of a deep fried morsel of breaded chicken that may have been sitting for a few hours under a heat lamp .  I can recall many times when I’ve been short on time, cash and needed a quick snack.  The Chicken Nuggets over at Wendy’s have filled the void in my stomach many times before, but they aren’t a favorite of mine.  They do a decent job and it’s time for a review.

It’s been a few months since I took these nugget pics and it looks like there have been some changes over at Wendy’s.  The inconsistency of the prices at Wendy’s is pretty frustrating…from store to store you never know what you’re going to get. I’m used to getting a 5-piece for 99 cents but that’s changed now ($1.39 for 5).  Going to the Wendy’s menu on their website only shows a 10-piece nugget option, served with your choice of two dipping sauces (Barbeque, Honey Mustard, Sweet and Sour or Honey).  The nuggets are all white meat chicken and have a light crunch to the breading.  It’s a softer, less dense morsel of chicken than what I’d prefer but the taste is more chicken than it is the breading. I never experience any dried out nuggets either which I find somewhat refreshing.  BK and McD’s suffer a little from dryness…especially BK.  What I find a little shocking is that a 10-piece order of nuggets really isn’t really filling for a full sized dude…(I’m around 190 lbs) but they pack an absurd 32 grams of fat!  Seriously not worth it folks.  I’d go for a 12-pack of Chick-fil-A Nuggets for a better taste and a mere 17 grams of fat.  CFA nuggets are more filling too with 12 nuggets having 42 protein grams vs 10 Wendy’s nuggets with 23 protein grams.

While the Wendy’s nuggets are far superior to Burger King, they are still just kinda average.  They get the job done but they wouldn’t be my first choice.  Maybe if there was a 99 cent value menu that Wendy’s could stick to, I’d have better things to say.

• Pros: Doesn’t suffer from dried out nuggets like most other fast food places.  Tastes more like chicken than breading.  Grubbing on the go.
• Cons: Not very filling.  Inconsistent prices.  Fat grams.

Taste: 6.25/10

Value: 7.75/10

Grubbing on the Go: 9.25/10

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GrubGrade: 6.50/10 (Average)

(Overall GrubGrade is not an average)

Price: $1.39 for 5

Wendys.com

Nutrition Info – Chicken Nuggets (10 count )

Calories – 470

Fat – 32 grams

Saturated Fat – 7 grams

Cholesterol – 65 milligrams

Sodium – 960 grams

Carbs – 21 grams

Sugars – 0 grams

Dietary Fiber – 0 grams

Protein – 23 grams

A chicken salad sandwich is grub not often found at a fast food place.  Luckily, I’ve yet to encounter a bad one.  Well, to be honest, I’ve only come across two.  The amazing, but hard to find, Arby’s Pecan Chicken Salad Market Fresh Sandwich and the offering found at Chick-fil-A.  I like most everything at CFA and the Chicken Salad Sandwich makes the grade too.  While not as filling and delicious as the Arby’s version, the Chick-fil-A Chicken Salad Sandwich is a worthy buy.

Chick-fil-A describes their version of the Chicken Salad Sandwich like this:

Freshly made at each store, this tasty sandwich is made with the freshest ingredients, which include chunks of our Chick-fil-A chicken breast, chopped eggs, celery, sweet pickle relish and mayonnaise served chilled with lettuce on toasted Wheatberry bread.

It’s refreshing to get away from the standard chicken sandwich and the Chicken Salad Sandwich is a solid replacement.  A sandwich that looks and tastes as advertised, “freshly made”.  I never knew this particular CFA version of the sandwich contained chopped eggs until I read the description a short while ago.  I’ve had it a good number of times but never noticed eggs, so maybe you won’t notice it either.  What is noticeable is everything that makes this a classic tasting chicken salad concoction.  The chicken breast could be chunkier but it gets the job done in the taste department. A nice crisp crunch of chopped celery and tangy sweet pickle relish are the standouts. The taste is primarily dominated by the pickle relish and mayo…just the stuff you might be looking for in a creamy batch of chicken salad.  While the Wheatberry bread is toasted, it’s not dried out and crusty/crunchy/flaky toasty.  It might as well just not be toasted but provides for a more stable set of bread.  This sandwich isn’t overly big and filling, so the $3.79 price tag might come off as pricey to some.  Personally I’d say it’s worth the price since a good fast food chicken salad sandwich is hard to come by.

Chicken Salad sandwiches are pretty simple to whip up at home and I’m sure a lot of you out there have your own special way of making it.  The Chicken Salad Sandwich from Chick-fil-A doesn’t add anything extra special like the Arby’s version (chopped apples, grapes, pecans).  What you’re getting with the CFA version is a bit more traditional and plain, but it works. Like I said before, it’s a nice change from the usual chicken sandwiches and might be worth your cash if you get a craving.

• Pros: Tasty and traditional.  Fresh.  Nice packaging.
• Cons: Not as filling as I’d like for $3.79.  One of the higher calorie/fat items on the CFA menu.

Taste: 8.25/10

Value: 5.50/10

Grubbing on the Go: 6.25/10

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GrubGrade: 7.75/10 (Good)

(Overall GrubGrade is not an average)

Price: $3.79

Chick-fil-A.com

Nutrition Info – Chicken Salad Sandwich

Calories – 500

Total Fat – 20 grams

Saturated Fat – 3.5 grams

Cholesterol – 80 milligrams

Sodium – 1240 milligrams

Carbs – 52 grams

Sugars – 12 grams

Dietary Fiber – 4 grams

Protein – 29 grams

Chicken for breakfast?  I guess it’s a Southern thing and I never realized how well it worked until I started with my addiction with Chick-fil-A and their breakfast Chick-n-Minis.  I love those little chicken sandwiches nestled together in the traditional white and red Chick-fil-A boxes.  A couple of 4-packs and an OJ starts my Saturday mornings off right.  I usually pass on the Chicken Biscuit sandwich which seems to be the major player on the CFA breakfast menu.  I am guilty of having it a few times by this point and it’s overdue for a GrubGrade review.Chick-fil-A descibes the Chicken Biscuit like this:

A breakfast portion of our famous boneless breast of chicken, seasoned to perfection, hand-breaded, pressure-cooked in peanut oil and served on a freshly baked buttermilk biscuit.

I’m a big fan of Chick-fil-A grub and it’s not common for me to gripe about what I order.  My CFA reviews are normally filled with high praise and recommendations.  With the breakfast Chicken Biscuit, my verdict all comes down to the biscuit.  I guess I just like my biscuits a tad bit different from what is found across a lot of fast food breakfast menus.  Overly crusty, greasy and salty is how I find these biscuits and to me, it makes for a breakfast sandwich in need of some help. It’s not really fair to compare CFA with a sit-down joint but you know what biscuits I love?  Bob Evans and Cracker Barrel.  If I could snag on of their biscuits and join it with a CFA chicken patty, we would have a match made in heaven .  The biscuits at those places have that light, fresh and fluffy inside and don’t suffer from the dry, crumbly, greasy, salty shell I find almost everywhere else.  Let’s get back to reality and talk about the real winner here which is, as always, the Chick-fil-A chicken breast.  You may not get a passing grade with me on the biscuit but of course CFA does the chicken just right. Like the description says, it’s hand-breaded, seasoned to perfection and cooked in peanut oil…mmm, so  tasty.  Chicken that’s good enough to eat at breakfast time.  It’s a simple combination of chicken and biscuit…you are getting what you ask for in two simple words.  It’s priced at $2.05 so it’s not a wallet buster…but it’s not very filling either.  I think it’s priced right.

With the popularity of Chick-fil-A growing and growing, imitators have of course sprung up to help even the score some. As most everyone knows, McDonald’s has gone the copycat route with their Southern-Style Chicken Sandwich for lunch/dinner and the breakfast Southern-Style Chicken Biscuit ($1.99) to rival the review you’re reading (the McD’s biscuit is worse by the way).  Chick-fil-A still wins of course but I’m not sold on this breakfast sandwich, or any breakfast sandwich for that matter, that has biscuits that are in need of a little help.  It’s weird that I’ve still ordered this item more than once…maybe hoping for a biscuit change, or just holding on to the fact that the stand-out is always in the end, the chicken.  Still a passable attempt and definitely try it if you aren’t a biscuit snob like yours truly.  Something more my style would be the Chick-n-Mini’s.

• Pros:  Only $2.05. Tasty CFA chicken.
• Cons:  I’m not a big fan of the greasy, crusty biscuit.

Taste:  6.25/10

Value:  7.50/10

Grubbing on the Go:  5.25/10

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GrubGrade:  6.00/10  (Average)

(Overall GrubGrade is not an average)

Price: $2.05

ChickfilA.com

Nutrition Information – Chicken Biscuit

Calories – 450

Fat – 20 grams

Saturated Fat – 8 grams

Cholesterol – 30 milligrams

Sodium – 1310 milligrams

Carbs – 48 grams

Sugars – 5 grams

Dietary Fiber – 3 grams

Protein – 19 grams

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t get too wrapped up in the burger wars. It’s not that I don’t like hamburgers, it’s just that I’ve always been more of a chicken kinda guy. Even when I was younger, I almost exclusively ordered chicken nuggets/fingers while eating at fast food places, much to the amazement of my good friend Luke, who always got a cheeseburger.

With that kind of allegiance to our fowl-feathered friends, you can imagine my excitement when Ryan introduced us to the new Carl’s Jr. Parmesan Chicken Sandwich in a food news post last week. As a bigtime fan of Italian food in addition to chicken fingers, this seemed like a must try item for me, especially considering that after years of living on the East Coast, I finally lived close enough to a Carl’s Jr. to try one.

The sandwich is described as such:

The Parmesan Chicken Sandwich features a breaded chicken fillet topped with melted cheese, smothered in authentic marinara sauce, on top of a sesame seed bun.

Before I get too far into the review, I want to mention the EXTREME HARDSHIP which I went through in procuring this item. My University is about two miles from the local Carl’s Jr, and when I went to check it out last week, the restaurant was being renovated. I tried again on Tuesday, trudging the two miles in a freezing Utah morning in which a snow/hail/sleet mixture pelted me relentlessly. Thank God for the sandwich’s 570 calories and 20 grams of fat, because quite frankly I think I would have frozen to death on my walk back had this been one of those “healthy” menu items.

While the sandwich come standard with a sesame seed bun, I actually ordered it on wheat, mostly on account of my “go for whole grains” mentality. Looking back, this may have been a mistake, as the chicken to bun to sauce ratio more or less pointed in the direction of epic fail for the bun. To the sandwich’s credit, they don’t skimp on marinara sauce, with both the bottom and top of the bun getting a generous portion. The sauce itself is dominated by a sweet flavor — perhaps a little too sweet to be ‘authentic’ — but it does have flavorful seasoning and a nice Italian herb mixture mixed in. I thought it was the dominant taste in the sandwich, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. As for the chicken, it started out as a nice and crispy patty. I really liked the breading and the strong flavor of black pepper. The problem was that as the sandwich sat on my plate, the patty got progressively soggier. Still, the flavor remained strong, and it served as a fine compliment to the sweet sauce.

Now, onto the third component of the chicken parmesan; the cheese. Too be frank, I’m not sure what kind of cheese it is exactly. Obviously I wasn’t expecting fresh buffalo mozzarella or shaved Parmesan, but the cheese came across as only average. It did have a slight flavor (it actually tasted like processed American cheese more than anything else) and didn’t detract from the sandwich, but at the same time I felt like it didn’t add anything, which kind of defeats the purpose of chicken parmesan. It also took a long time to melt on top of my warm sandwich, an annoyance for me because of how freaking starving I was by the time I finally ordered.

I got my sandwich for $2.99 as a single because of a coupon, but if you ask me it may be a little pricey for the $3.99 regular billing, especially considering the only moderate size. I think Carl’s Jr. is onto something here though, and wish more fast food restaurants would try to incorporate Italian flavor into their menu items. The meat is well seasoned and flavorful, and it works great with the sweet marinara sauce. The problems, however, are there. A more “artisan” type bun (like a Ciabatta) could really make the sandwich something special, while a higher and more authentic standard of cheese would really make this a “can’t miss” menu item. For now, I’ll consider the tasty sanwich a good start and a work in progress, but I would like to see Carl’s Jr. address some of these textural and quality issues in the near future.

• Pros: Large, flavorful chicken patty with crisp exterior and moist interior. Does well to compliment sweet basil and tomato flavor of marinara sauce, which is plentiful. Can’t really knock a classic combination of Italian food in a fast food form. Enough energy to keep me alive in this frigid Utah fall winter.
• Cons: Patty and sauce combination overwhelms helpless bun. Very messy. Needs a fancy Italian bun, like Ciabatta. Cheese could be more authentic. Need to synthesize timing of melted cheese to non-soggy chickeness.

Taste:  8.50/1 0

Value:  6.50/10

Grubbing on the Go:  5.25/10

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GrubGrade: 7.75/10 (Good)

(Overall GrubGrade is not an average)

Price:  $3.99 as single ($2.99 with coupon)

CarlsJr.com

Nutrition – Parmesan Chicken Sandwich

Serving Size: 262 g

Calories: 570

Calories from Fat: 180

Total Fat: 20 g

Saturated Fat: 6 g

Cholesterol: 50 mg

Sodium: 1810 mg

Carbs: 63 g

Fiber: 4 g

Sugars: 9 g

Protein: 34 g

Fast food places are constantly trying out new items to try to beat out their competitor.  Here at GrubGrade, we try to bring you those new items, but we also want to remember some of the classics.  McDonald’s is no exception to this as they’ve added four chicken sandwiches through the years to add to the original, the $1.00 McChicken Sandwich.

The McChicken is described by McDonald’s as:

Golden, crispy chicken with lettuce, mayonnaise dressing on a toasted bun.

I have to admit, that is has been years since I have had a McChicken sandwich.  I would rather choose one of the grilled chicken sandwiches, like the Premium Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich, rather than one that is breaded.  It’s sometimes tough to pass up a chicken sandwich for just a dollar so I had to revisit this Dollar Menu staple.  I was expecting the same bland tasting sandwich of the past.  That was not to be.  It appears that the sandwich was introduced in 1980, but didn’t quite hit home so they replaced it with the Chicken McNuggets.  When they decided to re-introduce the sandwich, they decided to add a little bite to it.  So, not knowing this bit of information, I was in for quite a surprise as I bit into this sandwich.  One word description:  Pepper. I had to make sure my drink was handy the entire time I was eating this sandwich.  Anyone else get this sort of result?

The good news is that this sandwich, as I mentioned before, is on the Dollar Menu.  And it is worth every penny of that dollar.  It’s pretty tough to be super critical of a sandwich for a dollar. The McChicken comes on your typical McDonald’s bun, thankfully fresh and soft but not really toasted as described by McD’s.  The chicken patty is all white meat, but is a little on the dry side.  McD’s adds some shredded lettuce, which is a little wilted, and mayonnaise which helps with the dryness of the chicken.   As with most McDonald’s menu items with mayo, they usually pour it on too thick…ask them to go light on it.  The McChicken is not only easy on your budget, it’s also not too horrible on nutrition.  With only 360 cal and 16 grams of fat, it can be classified as one of the healthier options.

If you are hungry, and on a tight budget you can get an entire meal for $3.00 plus tax. Grab yourself a McChicken, small fry and large sweet tea-they are all on the Dollar Menu.  Just don’t go expecting anything exceptional.  I trust you readers enough to understand where this type of item sits with me.  It’s a passable, quick option for some spare change.  Taste-wise it’s almost average but sits in the land of mediocrity.  Definitely worth the occasional dollar splurge.

• Pros: Decent sized chicken patty.  Fresh Bun.  Great value for a dollar.
• Cons: Too peppery for my tastebuds.  Lettuce could’ve been fresher.  Chicken patty a little dry.  Overly doused in mayo.

Taste:  5.75/10

Value:  8.00/10

Grubbing on the Go:  7.50/10

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GrubGrade:  5.75/10  (Mediocre)

(Overall GrubGrade is not an average)

Price:  $1.00

McDonalds.com

Nutrition Facts – McChicken Sandwich

Calories – 360

Total Fat – 16 grams

Saturated Fat – 3 grams

Cholesterol – 35 milligrams

Sodium – 830 milligrams

Carbs – 40 grams

Dietary Fiber – 2 grams

Sugars – 5 grams

Protein – 14 grams

Chicken nuggets are an obvious staple of any fast food menu.  Every place has their own version, some better than others.  My personal favorites are nuggets at Chick-Fil-A, but  one of the better nuggets out there are the Louisiana Nuggets from Popeyes.

The Popeyes description:

Premium white meat. Available in 6 piece or 9 piece servings.

Chicken nuggets are pretty simple, chunks of chicken with some type of breading, and these nuggets are no different.  They are made from premium white meat chicken and available in either spicy or mild varieties.  When at Popeyes, I always go for their spicy chicken.  (more…)