The entire supply at over 2,000 restaurants coast to coast sold out in just two weeks.
The frenzy even inspired a parody sketch on TV’s “Saturday Night Live.”
Popeyes itself keeps coming out with different riffs on its iconic sandwich.
Photo: Popeyes. Design: Eat This, Not That!
Recent spin-offs have added on various sauces like ranch or barbecue and toppings like bacon and cheese.
So, I rolled on down to my local Popeyes to see for myself.
Here’s what I found.
Photo: Chris Shott/Eat This, Not That!
The look:Unassuming.
On first glance, the sandwich seemed virtually indistinguishable from Popeyes original chicken sandwich.
Same copper-colored, craggy-looking breaded chicken fillet.
Same pair of porraceous pickle slices.
The flavor was tangy but fleeting.
Within seconds, its taste was completely replaced with a prickling sensation that quickly spread across my entire palate.
That tingling was unrelenting, even as I started chewing on the rest of the sandwich.
The overall effect was palpable but not unpleasant.
In that way, the sandwich struck a nice balance between its savory and spicy components.
They didn’t co-mingle as much as co-existnot the most harmonious pairing, in other words.
I finished the whole sandwich feeling satiated if not entirely satisfied.
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