McDonald's copying Chik-Fil-A

I saw a commercial this weekend that McDonald's is offering a Southern Chicken Sandwich. Plain and fried on a buttery bun with two pickles. Sounds like Chik-Fil-A's. I will have to try it to compare. I love the Chik-Fil-A sandwich but there aren't locations too close to me.

They are also offering a Southern Chicken Biscuit for breakfast.

If any of you have tried either, let me know what you thought.

I think they're giving them away on 5/15 with the purchase of any drink.

Tried it.. ...similar, barely acceptable... but not Chick-fil-a...

This is another one of those things they offer periodically...or maybe I've gotten caught in the thing where I live in a test market and forgot that for a while. At any rate, McDonald's around here has had a Southern chicken sandwich and biscuit for at least a year that I know of, or maybe they offered it about a year or so ago and it's back.

Either way, it's not that impressive. And no one I know can figure out what exactly is "Southern" about it.

And yes, they're giving them away on 15 May with the purchase of a medium or large drink.

2 places to avoid. Makes no difference.

HotDogHead, I agree. I saw one promotional shot and thought, "Chick-Fil-A Copykat!"

It's so tough to top Chick-Fil-A. To me, they're to chicken what In-N-Out is to burgers.

Had a free sandwich today because of the coupons mailed out two weeks ago...in fact, they've just
about emptied their bag of tricks to get people to try them (buy one, get one free, free sandwich
(no purchase necessary), buy a large/medium drink, get a free sandwich/biscuit).

And I noticed one guy in front of me who used up his three coupons on one visit

quote:

Originally posted by MellowRoast

HotDogHead, I agree. I saw one promotional shot and thought, "Chick-Fil-A Copykat!"

It's so tough to top Chick-Fil-A. To me, they're to chicken what In-N-Out is to burgers.

Living in an area where the nearest Chik-Fil-A is 2 hours away, there is the temptation to hope that someone can provide an alternate. Granted the McD southern chicken sandwich is not bad, but it is not Chik-Fil-A by any means, even if McD's does include pickles. Better to wait for the real stuff than try a weak impression.

Good comparison to In-N-Out.

I tried the chicken bisquit.

Salty! I'm not sure if the chicken or the bisquit was the offender.

I tried one last friday on one of my infrequent trips to McDonalds - I took a couple of bites, threw it away and got a Cheese Quater Pounder. Chick Fil-A has nothing to worry about - this ripoff was really crappy.

quote:

Originally posted by mar52

I tried the chicken bisquit.

Salty! I'm not sure if the chicken or the bisquit was the offender.

Given the nutrition on their biscuit... I'd have to go with it as the salt offender. 1 biscuit has 680 mg of sodium, or 28% of the RDI. Ouch!

quote:

Originally posted by MellowRoast

It's so tough to top Chick-Fil-A. To me, they're to chicken what In-N-Out is to burgers.

I've never been to Chick-Fil-A. I tried to look at their website, but it couldn't be more annoying or harder to navigate, something which makes me want to NEVER patronize them. However, I found a location map on some other site which tells me the closest one to me is at least a three-hour drive to another state. I don't wany ANY fast food that badly, so McDonald's will have to suffice.

A southern chicken sandwich and a sweet tea makes a nice little lunch on the go.

quote:

Originally posted by felix4067
I've never been to Chick-Fil-A. I tried to look at their website, but it couldn't be more annoying or harder to navigate, something which makes me want to NEVER patronize them. However, I found a location map on some other site which tells me the closest one to me is at least a three-hour drive to another state. I don't wany ANY fast food that badly, so McDonald's will have to suffice.

We drive an hour to have the Chick a few times a year. I'm pretty sure I would not do 6 hours roundtrip, but if you are in an area of the country that has them, you simply must try one. Get it w/o the butter sauce. Fan tas tic!!!

quote:

Originally posted by stricken_detective
We drive an hour to have the Chick a few times a year. I'm pretty sure I would not do 6 hours roundtrip, but if you are in an area of the country that has them, you simply must try one. Get it w/o the butter sauce. Fan tas tic!!![/font=Tahoma]

I'll go to Chik-Fil-A when I'm close to one, but to me it's not worth the 45 min it takes to get to the nearest one to me.

I ordered the McD's Southern Chick today and asked for extra mayo and extra pickles. It was fresh, it was moist, and chased with a sweet tea, it made for a good lunch.

Tried the Southern Chicken Sandwich last night. It was ok, but doesn't hold a candle to Chik-Fil-A.

I tried it last night also. It was ok -- nowhere near as good as Chik-Fil-A but far better than Arby's version (which I started a thread about recently).

quote:

Originally posted by mar52

I tried the chicken bisquit.

Salty! I'm not sure if the chicken or the bisquit was the offender.

Have you ever tried biscuits made with with Bisquick?J/K!

I happen to love drop biscuits made with bisquick. But I can not understand why anyone would want to eat a chicken sandwich.

Especially one made with chicken that's been fried.

I had one of the McDonalds version when it first came out and the puny bun along with 2 pickles @ $2.89 was not a good deal. granted the piece of chicken wasn't bad but nothing I would go back for.

Got the free (with drink purchase. hmmm, not really free) chicken biscuit this morning and except for the biscuit being dry and the chicken being tasteless and dry, it was great.

I had the sandwich last week, and can say both are not worth the price. Doubt I'd go back even if either were really free. The free sandwich (with drink) goes to about 7 or 8pm tonight.

Kevin

quote:

Originally posted by angeltearsmc

quote:

Originally posted by mar52

I tried the chicken bisquit.

Salty! I'm not sure if the chicken or the bisquit was the offender.

Given the nutrition on their biscuit... I'd have to go with it as the salt offender. 1 biscuit has 680 mg of sodium, or 28% of the RDI. Ouch!

that's really not that bad. 28% would be less than 1/3 your salt intake for the day. For 3 meals per day, that's not bad considering most people intake 2-3x the RDI for sodium.

I had one of the free ones today. Quite frankly, I found it to be very tasty. I have never been to a Chic A Fil or what ever so I cannot compare.

Walt

quote:

Originally posted by KOK

Got the free (with drink purchase. hmmm, not really free) chicken biscuit this morning and except for the biscuit being dry and the chicken being tasteless and dry, it was great.

I had the sandwich last week, and can say both are not worth the price. Doubt I'd go back even if either were really free. The free sandwich (with drink) goes to about 7 or 8pm tonight.

Kevin

is there anything on the sandwich? Like mayo or something? I thought it looked really dry in the commercial

quote:

Originally posted by fattybomatty

quote:

Originally posted by KOK
Got the free (with drink purchase. hmmm, not really free) chicken biscuit this morning and except for the biscuit being dry and the chicken being tasteless and dry, it was great. I had the sandwich last week, and can say both are not worth the price. Doubt I'd go back even if either were really free. The free sandwich (with drink) goes to about 7 or 8pm tonight.

Kevin

is there anything on the sandwich? Like mayo or something? I thought it looked really dry in the commercial

There was one pickle on my sandwich. Chick-fil-A has two pickles so I may have been short-changed. Nothing else on the sandwich, but I should have asked for mayo, ketchup or maybe some bbq sauce. And extra pickles. The chicken on the sandwich wasn't dry like the biscuit I had, but it still didn't have much taste. The biscuit's chicken was just plain lousy.

Just got back from McDonald's for the free chicken sandwich. It is clearly 100% an intentional Chick-Fil-A knockoff, pure and simple.

Nice try, but it's still not up to Chick-Fil-A quality. Think about it: it's very hard to top a pioneer in any field of endeavor.

Well I just got back from MCD after having a "free" one with soda and fries. $4.02 Sandwich is priced a real rip-off $3.89 in NY Metro area. I had to ask for fresh fries and was shocked how puny the sandwich looked. I guess I don't really need to go to Chick-a-fil if this is anywhere near comparable.

I took my daughter by for the free one yesterday. She liked it, but did comment that the bun seemed small.

McD would need to start with real chicken for that to happen.

I don't understand what all of the fuss over Chick-Fil-A "quality" is about. Every time I have been there, I got a sandwich that had obviously been sitting in the foil pouch for a LONG time. Pair it up with some undercooked, cold and soggy waffle fries, and you have an overpriced, unedible meal!

At least the chicken sandwich I had at McDonalds was freshly cooked. (And not on free sandwich day!)

quote:

Originally posted by waltpiii

I had one of the free ones today. Quite frankly, I found it to be very tasty. I have never been to a Chic A Fil or what ever so I cannot compare.

Walt

First, let me say that I have never sampled the legendary Chick-Fil-A sandwich, so I am not comparing the new McDonald's menu item to that product.

I ate a free McDonald's Southern Chicken Sandwich today, and I can say is that I am very glad that I did not have to pay for it. If some mayonnaise had been added, it would have been considerably better, but as it was, I found it to be somewhat dry and lacking in flavor. I will grant that it was nice and hot, unlike much fast food, but overall, it was not something that I would purchase if given a chance. And, I say this as a very happy holder of McDonald's stock. May their tribe increase, but this experiment was not a success, IMHO.

How about this one for making this thread (or my post?!?!) Roadfood related...?
Today I got a package from Amazon with my new edition of Roadfood (the book). I open the box, I unpack it, and inside I find... (drumroll) a coupon for a free McD's new southern chicken biscuit and one for the sandwich. Having read this thread already, I did laugh out loud (heartily).

So... if you were only going to try one, which one would it be? (Oh and I should add I have never had Chik-Fil-A, I have seen the ads, but I don't think we have 'em around here...)

cecif..according to their site chik-fil-a has a location in the northshore mall (peabody).

Considering the biscuits are frozen, I'd go with the sandwich...but bring along some mayo and lettuce.

quote:

Originally posted by Larry - RibRater - Jay

cecif..according to their site chik-fil-a has a location in the northshore mall (peabody).

Considering the biscuits are frozen, I'd go with the sandwich...but bring along some mayo and lettuce.

Thanks LRJ! It's no surprise I haven't seen it. The Northshore Mall is my "local" mall, but I rarely go, since they've been undergoing huge renovations for over 6 months. The food court area is about the worst, just a mess, even with all the "open for business" signs etc. signs. Some day I'll try it. In the meantime, a free Mickey D's is it.

I had the biscuit one morning because I was curious. I won't have it again, at least, not in the city. It tasted like there was a pickle on it at some point, but I admit, I was coming over a cold. Bland. Very bland.

Thanks for all the responses. I finally got around to trying the Southern Chicken Sandwich this weekend. It was surprisingly good. It was piping hot. I would get it again. It is, indeed, very similar to the taste of Chik-Fil-A's version. I also liked the fact it didn't have that weird little "nub" on one end that Chik-Fil-A's has.

I will buy it again. However, if Chik-Fil-A and McDonald's were side by side, I would probably opt for the Chik-Fil-A sandwich.

quote:

Originally posted by cecif

How about this one for making this thread (or my post?!?!) Roadfood related...?
Today I got a package from Amazon with my new edition of Roadfood (the book). I open the box, I unpack it, and inside I find... (drumroll) a coupon for a free McD's new southern chicken biscuit and one for the sandwich. Having read this thread already, I did laugh out loud (heartily).

Help me, I can't stop eating McDonald's Southern Chicken Sandwiches!!

Ever since I read here about the coupons, I have been looking for them in my Amazon.com boxes. I've found three this week alone, so far. If it's free, it's me! Keep those coupons coming.

In the past couple of weeks, I've noted that the packaging changed from a paper wrap to a little cardboard box. I also see that, like Chik-fil-A, there is "butter sauce" on the bun, but McD's is very stingy with it - the stain on the bun was about the size of a half-dollar.

It's an okay sandwich, but it's not worth the cost. The Chik-Fil-A version has a better bun and the chicken just tastes better. It's a better breading and the pressure-cooking with peanut oil makes what looks like a very basic and simple thing a real delight. Not that I wanted not to like McD's version (I'll spare you on a bad service story), but though it tries, it's empty.

It's better than the breakfast biscuit, though. Piping hot, too.

i am never eating that trash they call chicken AGAIn

Tried it last week, Tased fine the first bite then i realized that it was rubbery

like it wasnt cooked properly, so it was really rubbery and soft

The few people i know who tried it said the same thing

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

I happen to love drop biscuits made with bisquick. But I can not understand why anyone would want to eat a chicken sandwich.

Especially one made with chicken that's been fried.

That's interesting, because there are so many sandwiches with so many different types of meats in them. You have hamburgers, ham sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, etc. I'm guessing that people would want to eat those because they like them.

I don't see why a chicken sandwich is such a stretch. Seems to me that it's fairly common, appearing on a lot of different menus at a lot of different restaurants

This weekend, I tried both the Chik-fil-a chicken sandwich and the McDonald's southern chicken sandwich. I have to say that I preferred the Chik-fil-a by a long shot; the McDonald's just didn't taste as good. In both cases, though, you do need to add a condiment (either mayo or mustard). And the Chik-fil-a pickles tasted better.

Checked my Shell gas bill,and what do you know,there is a coupon for a free chicken sandwich.I may go to Lowe's at lunch,and if I do,will stop at McDonald's and pick one up to try it.

I've tried the "southern" chicken sandwich at McDonald's, and that one time was quite enough, thank you. It's nothing but a Chik-Fil-A wannabe, and nowhere near as good as the sandwich that it's copying. Chik-Fil-A isn't the greatest thing that ever was, but it's good enough that I wish the chain was in the Chicagoland area.     

McDonald s is okay but I would rather have Chick Fil a. I also like the little chicken minis at breakfast. I do not like the waffle fries,but love the carot raisin salad

McDonald's will never be able to duplicate the perfection of this awesome sandwich:

I could have been a millionaire after the last time I had one of the chicken biscuits...

I saw that they had just pulled a few filets from the deep fryer, so I knew I was getting a pretty fresh product.  As cautious as I was as I was about to sink my teeth into the sandwich, the moment any pressure hit that thing, it literally unleashed a scalding splash of juice and oil onto my face.  I didn't bite directly into the bubble of stock and oil keeping the chicken moist and juicy, else I would have just burnt my mouth.  No.  I bit just below it, while my hands gripped the other side a bit harder.  The juice spewed onto my upper lip, into and onto my nose, with a few drips on my glasses (yes, I could have had this in my eye).  Instant searing pain and blisters.  I'll leave it at that.

I can't be alone in this...the way these things are mass produced and infused (it's no different in theory than most chicken filets that infuse extra stock or water to evenly heat the inside while keeping the thing thoroughly moist throughout), has any other unlucky sucker hit the money spot on their chicken sandwiches at McDonald's, BK, Wendy's, Chick-fil-A, or other places?

Mcdonald's southern style chicken is to a Chick-fil-a  much like their big Mac is/was to the Big Shef.    Not even close.

acting man, you didn't say which chain provided your "squirting biscuit". Was it McDonald's or Chik-Fil-A?

nocarolina


acting man, you didn't say which chain provided your "squirting biscuit". Was it McDonald's or Chik-Fil-A?

Whoops.  It was a McDonald's chicken biscuit.  One thing I can't say is that I haven't had one that wasn't fresh!