Wendy’s already has one of the most robust breakfast menus in the fast-food business, and it’s not done yet. It just announced a new breakfast sandwich, the first addition to its morning menu since launching breakfast a couple of years ago, is rolling out Feb. 8. The Hot Honey Chicken Biscuit will feature fried chicken and habanero pepper-spiced honey on a buttermilk biscuit — a spicy new take on one of its menu staples, the Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit. Whether it will hold its own against the chain’s nine other breakfast sandwiches remains to be seen. In the meantime, we’ve tasted every single one of the old favorites. The breakfast sandwiches we tried:
Most Unpleasant Surprise: The Swiss “Cheese” Sandwiches
Chris J./Yelp
We imagine that you, like us, read the words “Sausage, Egg, & Swiss” or, “Bacon, Egg, & Swiss” and imagined a sandwich containing Swiss cheese. Unfortunately, dear friends, we’ve been duped. You’ll not find any Swiss cheese on any of these sandwiches, no; instead, you’ll find a sauce so indistinguishable from mayo that we literally thought they had forgotten Swiss cheese and had instead put mayo on a breakfast sandwich.
David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
If you’ve ever eaten a Wendy’s Baconator and thought, “This is good, but I wish the patty was a breakfast sausage and it was covered in Swiss cheese sauce,” this is a sandwich for you. If you’re the other 99% of the planet who has never come anywhere close to that thought, this sandwich is probably going to be far too heavy.
Biggest Missed Opportunity: The Eggs
Joe P./Yelp
Come on, gang — you hang your hat on your square patties. Your burgers are square, your sausage is square; keep that nastiness a-flowin’ and give me some square eggs.
Anthony N./Yelp
The biscuit Wendy’s is serving for (unfortunately only) three of their sandwiches is really something. It’s actually not far off from a Popeyes biscuit, and in case you’re unaware, that is a gigantic compliment. The croissant, which is a lot more like Flubber than it is an actual croissant, is a spongy, soggy mystery. You won’t be too disappointed with the classic bun, but the biscuit is undeniably where it’s at.
Most Reliable Meat: The Bacon
Sabrina B./Yelp
Wendy’s has stood the test of time for so long thanks largely to their famous Frosties, but an easy No. 2 on that list is the bacon. It’s amongst the best in fast food, and it does a lot of heavy lifting with every sandwich it’s on. It’s the superior meat option here, so skip the sausage entirely. One question for Wendy’s, though, while we’re on the subject: Why no ham?
The Axis-Shifting Dark Horse: The Breakfast Potatoes
Joe P./Yelp
It probably sounds like we were pretty mean to Wendy’s here (because we were), but we cannot close out this taste test without recognizing something that is certain to change the fast food breakfast conversation. Amidst all the pomp and flair of Wendy’s announcing an incredibly ambitious nine options at once, they casually introduced what just might be the best fast food breakfast potatoes in the game. These things taste like actual home fries you might get at a diner, and they are already a titan. Get your hands on them immediately.
Most Unique Sandwich: Maple Bacon Chicken Croissant
Michael G./Yelp
The fast food game is fairly oversaturated with egg-and-cheese sandwiches, but there aren’t a lot of places doing what Wendy’s is doing with the Maple Bacon Chicken Croissant. It’s a shame that it’s trapped on that weird science experiment of a bun, but Wendy’s has gone full-on savory brunch mode here, and we can respect that.
Most Like a Classic Breakfast Sandwich: Classic Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Sandwich
Luci B./Yelp
Despite the fact that Wendy sort of lost her mind with the Breakfast Baconator, she managed to regain an impressive amount of control with her BEC sandwich. This isn’t too far off from a bodega or corner store breakfast sandwich, keeping things simple with a manageable amount of bacon, egg, and cheese on a buttery bun. Also like a classic bodega sandwich: It’s far too salty.
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Best Overall Breakfast Sandwich: Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit
Yon C./Yelp
Sometimes, the best things in life are simple. What we’re dealing with here is a piece of fried chicken, covered in honey butter, and served on one of their surprisingly good biscuits. Truly, what else do you need?
