Chicken-focused fast food chains are a part of our world that aren’t going anywhere. Whether you’re dealing with tenders, nuggets, sandwiches, or bone-in wings, there are probably plenty of options within driving distance. Here are the best fast food chicken chains, serving everything from southern fried comfort to Mexican flame-grilled majesty.
A Moment of Silence for Koo Koo Roo
Real quick, real quick. There was this rotisserie chicken chain throughout most of the ’90s called Koo Koo Roo. The place was incredible. I miss it every single day of my life. It’s possible I won’t be missing it for too long, as it has suddenly resurfaced on the internet, but I refuse to get my hopes up. I won’t. I can’t go through this heartbreak again.
Related: Restaurant Chains We Miss
Best: Popeyes
It wasn’t a particularly difficult decision to put Popeyes in the number one spot. Popeyes chicken is the best in its class, seasoned to perfection with New Orleans-style spices and served alongside an impeccable slew of sides. The red beans and rice. Those seasoned fries. That mac and cheese. Add any of Popeyes’ sauces into the mix and you’ve got a perfect chicken chain.
2. El Pollo Loco
The only non-fried option on this list is also one of the strongest. El Pollo Loco also landed at number two on my Mexican-style fast food ranking, and I’m sticking to that here. Oh, that Spanish rice! Oh, that salsa bar! Oh, that smell. I love you, El Pollo Loco. Never change.
3. Wingstop
To be clear, Wingstop is not WingStreet. It’s important to me that we all understand this. WingStreet is a goblin of Pizza Hut’s design and has no business here. Wingstop is vastly superior, frying chicken to order in a slew of terrific sauces, ranging from Korean barbecue to lemon pepper. They’re doing sandwiches now, too. Wingstop doesn’t miss.
4. Jollibee
This place doesn’t get nearly enough respect. Sure, it’s a restaurant where you can order spaghetti in a drive-through, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that Jollibee makes solid fried chicken. It has an incredible sauce game, too, with options like Sriracha mayo and sweet chili.
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5. Kentucky Fried Chicken
The Colonel seems like he’s stepped his game up a bit these days. He’s delivered us a surprisingly high quality sandwich amidst the chicken sandwich wars, and those 11 herbs and spices seem to be singing their siren song to me a lot more lately than they have in the past. At the very least, you can’t deny the power of KFC’s chicken pot pie.
6. Chicken Guy
The truth is, I’ve never actually eaten at a Chicken Guy location, the slowly-growing chain helmed by Guy Fieri. I once tried all of the chain’s 22 dipping sauces shipped to my house because I’m a lunatic, but that is a story for another time. By mere virtue of the fact that His Guyness is working his Flavortown magic on 22 different dipping sauces, Chicken Guy belongs right in the middle of this whole thing.
7. Chick-fil-A
I don’t get it with Chick-fil-A. People lose their minds for this place. It isn’t bad, but I just can’t understand the hype. Chick-fil-A Sauce, however, is an interdimensional grand slam. There’s really nothing like it, and every single restaurant in America should serve a variation of it.
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8. Bojangles
Bojangles does many things quite well, but unfortunately none of them are chicken. World-class breakfast biscuits and a killer sweet potato pie can’t outdo the fact that Bo’s core menu item is weak. Good ranch dressing, though.
9. Zaxby’s
I don’t know what to say. This place has never hit for me. Besides one great Buffalo sauce, the rest are a nightmare, and the chicken simply doesn’t hold up against titans like KFC or Popeyes.
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