Chicken fight escalates via Hawaii fast-food restaurants

Soon, we will be back to sit-down restaurants in force. But over the past year, because of the pandemic, it’s been a lot more takeout than usual. And takeout often means fast-food drive-thru. And fast-food drive-thru often means spicy chicken sandwiches.

Maybe you thought the next line would be, “And spicy chicken sandwiches often mean Popeyes.”

That is true. It’s been nearly a year-and-a-half since its debut in Hawaii, and Popeyes’ Spicy Chicken Sandwich is still widely considered the king — especially since murmurs of Chick-fil-A opening here have not materialized into a debut in the islands.

But other fast-food giants are making their own moves or have plans to do so as the chicken fights escalate.

McDonald’s just released three new crispy chicken sandwiches, following closely in the path of offerings from Jack in the Box and Wendy’s. Burger King has a new “hand-breaded” spicy, crispy chicken sandwich not available yet in Hawaii, and Kentucky Fried Chicken has something new in the works, too. Even Taco Bell enters the fray this week with a Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco (sorry, only in North Carolina and Tennessee for now).

Sean Uezu, president of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Hawaii, said his six Oahu restaurants are still riding the wave of the spicy sandwich release here in late 2019.

“It was a totally unprecedented phenomenon. We’re blessed that it’s still so popular,” said Uezu, who keeps a watchful eye on those in pursuit. “You’ve got to figure out what the competition is. You don’t want to get caught sleeping.”

Much of Popeyes’ success is due to its online presence, Uezu said. Competitors noticed that, and when McDonald’s debuted its new sandwiches recently, it did so with a big social media push.

McDonald’s used endorsements from music producer Tay Keith that included a new audio track and swag giveaway to create buzz around its Crispy Chicken, Deluxe Crispy Chicken and Spicy Crispy Chicken sandwiches. Promotional hoodies ran out seconds after they were offered online, and none have been seen yet in the islands, said McDonald’s of Hawaii regional marketing manager Melanie Okazaki.

“The digital world is so dynamic, and it’s really Instagram,” Okazaki said, when asked if any social media platform is above the others for promoting food. “We have lots of presence there.”

BUT YOU can’t eat a hoodie. How do the sandwiches compare, tastewise?

I sampled the latest and greatest spicy chicken sandwiches from the Hawaii outlets of various national chains. McDonald’s is the only one of the major competitors challenging Popeyes’ dominance head-on without gimmicks. The McDonald’s spicy, crispy sandwich has almost exactly the same ingredients as Popeyes’: the minor differences are a potato bun instead of brioche, and crinkle-cut pickles instead of Popeyes’ thick-cut ones.

Ronald’s sandwich is spicy and tasty. But the chicken is not as crispy as Popeyes’. Like Popeyes’, the spicy sauce sneaks up on you. That heat stayed with me for a couple of minutes. It didn’t make me sweat or anything, so I found it pleasing.

If McDonald’s needed evidence before go ing all-in on chicken, it got plenty in the form of a fired-up version of one of its classics last year. Spicy Chicken McNuggets quickly became a favorite, and were brought back for a second round of limited-time-only status early this year.

For anyone wanting something even hotter, McDonald’s Mighty Hot Sauce does the trick. Be forewarned: It’s as hot as Tabasco, so use sparingly. Mighty Hot Sauce is mighty popular, enough so that customers use it on the Spicy Chicken McNuggets instead of the ranch sauce designed to accompany them.

Okazaki said that wasn’t a big surprise, and it might not be a coincidence that the release of the spicy chicken sandwiches “parallels” the spicy McNugget success.

“The popularity of chicken is growing at a faster rate (than beef). For a while, there was excitement about different kinds of burgers. Chicken in general is a growing market,” she said. “Then there’s the whole excitement about spicy.”

Mighty Hot Sauce is also on limited- time-only status, but like the here-again, gone-again McRib, you can expect it and spicy McNuggets to periodically reappear.

Jack in the Box raised the stakes by adding avocado and bacon to its new spicy chicken sandwiches; the fully loaded one is called the Cluck Deluxe. JITB is going heavy on the marketing, too. Commercials show social media influencer and entertainer Becky G introducing yet another version of “The Chicken Dance,” with help from Jack, of course.

This sandwich is so crispy I’ll call it crunchy, but Popeyes’ chicken is a little bit juicier.The Cluck Deluxe includes tomato and lettuce, along with special guest stars avocado and bacon. The mild flavor of the avocado gets lost at times in the ensemble, but you can still tell it’s there because of the creamy texture.

YOU WANT spicier? You want the Jalapeno Popper Chicken Sandwich from Wendy’s, recently made available on Oahu. We’re talking major thermodynamics with six thick jalapeno slices where other franchises place three pickles. Add overly generous slathers of jalapeno cream cheese, pepper jack cheese, cheddar cheese sauce and three slices of bacon. Plus, did I mention there’s a piece of spicy chicken in there somewhere?

The one I got had wilted bacon, but I didn’t care. When it comes to jalapenos, I’m a never- too-much-of-a-good-thing guy. This was well worth the drive from town to Puuloa Road.

Burger King and KFC have spicy chicken sandwiches that date back to before the Popeyes’ debut. I find nothing wrong with what’s currently available here from His Majesty and the Colonel — maybe they were ahead of their time, and therefore didn’t get much marketing buzz.It will be interesting to see when and what both those chains and Taco Bell bring to the chicken race here. Maybe it will become like new-car season.

Are any of these good enough to take down the champ? For me, the Wendy’s sandwich is. But for folks who like to keep it simple and spicy, Popeyes still reigns supreme.

SEAFOOD JOINS THE MIX

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen doesn’t see any reason to modify its Spicy Chicken Sandwich.

But it does have two new seafood items, available at least through this month.

Popeyes’ Cajun Flounder Sandwich ($6.50) and Cajun Shrimp ($5.50 for eight pieces) are tied to Lent, when the only meat some people will eat is seafood.

The fish sandwich is nearly identical to the iconic chicken sandwich, with a piece of fish and tartar sauce instead of chicken and spicy sauce.

The shrimp is your basic fried shrimp. The pieces are bigger than Popeyes’ popcorn shrimp, but smaller than I thought they would be.

Sean Uezu, president of Popeyes Hawaii, knows that fried fish is a tough market in Hawaii.

“I would say, yes, Hawaii is renown for its seafood, but we fit into a different segment,” he said. “Hawaii is not quite as known for fried seafood. If you want a fish-and-chips style food or fried flounder, we have it. We fit a niche for people who don’t eat chicken or beef.”

McDonald’s and Wendy’s also offer fish sandwiches on their Hawaii menus.