When It Comes To The Chicken Sandwich War, Arby's Definitely Loses

If it seems like all of your go-to fast-casual dining spots are suddenly offering fresh new takes on the chicken sandwich, you aren't just seeing things. Since 2019, fast food joints across the U.S. have been battling it out for the title of "best chicken sandwich." While chicken sandwiches have been available on fast food menus way before 2019, it was the debut of Popeyes' fried chicken sandwich that broke the internet and subsequently challenged neighboring restaurants to compete for chicken sandwich fans' attention and business.

Nowadays, you'll most likely find at least one chicken sandwich option on most fast food menus — even at places that don't necessarily specialize in chicken, like Arby's. The restaurant is most commonly known for its roast beef and cheddar sandwiches stacked high on onion rolls with a side of crispy curly fries. But as the saying goes, "Arby's has the meats," which apparently includes chicken patties. As for Arby's place in the chicken sandwich wars, Daily Meal ranked seven of Arby's sandwiches, and the restaurant's attempt at chicken came in dead last.

Daily Meal gave Arby's a fair shot at impressing us with its chicken sandwich, but the fast food joint simply did not deliver. Upon initial inspection, the sandwich buns on the Crispy Chicken Sandwich were soggy from too much mayonnaise and thin, underwhelming produce. The patty itself was small and lacked flavor, not to mention that it had an awkward, spongy texture that totally threw us off. The Buffalo version of Arby's chicken sandwich wasn't much better, offering slightly less mess but not much more flavor. As of this writing, Arby's offers four types of chicken sandwiches: Bourbon BBQ Chicken, Chicken Bacon Swiss, Buffalo Chicken, and classic Crispy Chicken. After our taste test, we feared that even Arby's tasty signature sauce (which seems to combine ketchup and barbecue sauce) won't fix the poor quality of the chicken sandwiches Arby's is selling.

It isn't just our staff that had a subpar experience with Arby's chicken sandwich. Users on Reddit have come forward to share their less-than-enjoyable experiences eating the fast food joint's various chicken sandwich offerings. One user called the chain's chicken sandwich "Absolutely disgusting" and described the chicken patty as a "teeny, flat, nondescript piece of something that in a former life [m]ight have been chicken." Unfortunately, the current quality and taste of Arby's chicken sandwich just can't compete with other popular chains that offer a better-quality chicken sandwich experience.

If you're craving a chicken sandwich, we wouldn't recommend stopping by Arby's if you have your pick of other fast food joints. As for the origins of the chicken sandwich wars, Popeyes and Chick-fil-A started the conflict based on a long-standing beef (or ... chicken, apparently). The two restaurants' back-and-forth on social media following Popeyes' chicken sandwich debut caught everyone's attention, and the two restaurants have seemingly been fighting for first place ever since. Surprisingly, though, these two weren't even in our top three when we tried and ranked 19 fast food chicken sandwiches.

According to Daily Meal's ranking, Chick-fil-A earned a respectable fifth place overall, while Popeyes landed at number seven — clearly, all that hype doesn't matter a whole lot when you're directly comparing the quality and flavors of different sandwiches. In fact, Biscuitville, a small chain local to Virginia and both Carolinas, took third place for its soft biscuit buns and flavorful chicken breast. Southern favorite Bojangles came in at number two, while the Midwestern chain Culver's took home the gold for best overall chicken sandwich. Clearly, regional chains know something about how to make a great chicken sandwich that national chains just haven't seemed to get right yet. Luckily, the chicken sandwich wars rage on, so there's still time for your favorite spot to rise to the occasion.