It’s all the rage in Manteca right now and will be for the foreseeable future.

But just how good are the chicken sandwiches that people are waiting for nearly two hours to get?

On Saturday, I set out to put the big three in chicken to the test and determine whether it’s worth it to run the gauntlet for Chick-fil-A or if you’re better off finding somewhere else where you don’t have to sacrifice your day – and your sanity – for a mouth-watering bite to eat.

It was by far the most chicken I’ve ever consumed in a single day – spaced out over the lunch and dinnertime hours – but I felt it gave me a definitive perspective on which of the local eateries has what you’re looking for when it comes to a chicken sandwich.

I expect that there will be more than a few people that will disagree with my assessment on each of these reviews, and I wouldn’t have it any other way – my opinions are my own here, based on my own tastes, and variety in preference is to be expected.

In order to make this fair I ordered the same basic thing at all three restaurants – a regular, not spicy chicken sandwich – and ate them all on the same day to get a true feel for which one I thought was the best.

Not all chicken sandwiches are the same, as you will see below, and not all drive-thru experiences are the same.

Without further delay, here’s the Manteca chicken sandwich taste test:

Chick-fil-A

This is the chicken joint that sparked the entire review and has been giving the Manteca Police Department headaches as they try and figure out how to get hundreds of cars into and out of that parking lot with the least amount of disruption possible. So, the question is – is it worth it? Is it worth the grind? I have to admit that this one was the one that I was looking forward to most, and for the most part, it did not disappoint. Here’s my take on the hottest meal in town:

Taste: It seems simple enough – chicken and bread with a few things thrown in. But once you have a chicken sandwich from here, it’s easy to see what the hype is all about – it’s flavorful, juicy, perfectly portioned, and relatively affordable. It doesn’t’ taste like a fast food sandwich, and you don’t get the fast food feel when you go through the window and drive away with your bag – think of In-N-Out as a comparable experience. When it comes down to it, the taste is what brings people here and it’s the perfect combination of fresh and tasty.

Texture: Perfectly breaded on the outside and moist and juicy on the inside – the way that a chicken sandwich should be. It was perfectly cooked with a wonderful bun and crisp, crunchy pickles. They may be doing a lot of volume, but that’s a good thing when it comes to keeping the ingredients fresh.

Presentation: Probably the closest to the menu picture of anything that I’ve ever received in a drive-thru. While the fries were a little underwhelming, the sandwich was put together perfectly and only added to the overall experience. 

Wait: There’s only one word to describe this – nightmare. Because of the high volume of traffic only vehicles going northbound on Northwoods were allowed into the restaurant parking lot. This created a huge traffic nightmare at one of the busiest intersections in town. In all, it was just over 90 minutes from start to finish – which “wasn’t as bad” as it was just two days before. While they are known for moving large quantities of vehicles past their window, they had the added benefit of having no cars in the parking lot to contend with – allowing for two lanes to run simultaneously in a way that might be as easy when dining is taking place indoors. We’ll have to wait and see what happens when the newness wears off, but if you’re in a hurry or on a lunch break, right now this isn’t the place for you.

Verdict: It’s great. It’s relatively cheap, tasty, and fresh, and it’s more than filling. But getting it, right now, is a problem, and when you have to block out two hours just to hit a drive-thru it dilutes the experience a little bit. Would this worth it under normal conditions? Yes. But these aren’t normal conditions, and I don’t see a return trip for me in the near future.

Popeyes

I’ll never forget the first time I ate Popeyes chicken – at a truck stop in Redding that my father used to work at when he was in high school. I’ve made it a point to frequent this establishment ever since when I’m in the mood for chicken. I was more than excited to try the chicken sandwich that nearly resulted in riots when it was first introduced. Is it worth it? Let us dive deeper:

Taste: Exquisite. Being a Southern chicken restaurant, the spices that they use in their breading are beyond amazing, and the crunchy exterior provides a wonderful contrast to the juicy chicken that lies beneath. The bun wasn’t as good as it’s more popular counterpart and the produce wasn’t nearly as fresh, but the taste of the chicken itself overcame all of that.

Texture: I don’t know how it’s possible to have something that’s crispy and crunchy on the outside and yet the interior of the breast is juicy in a way that blows its competition out of the water. But Popeyes has figured that out. And we’re all better for it.

Presentation: It leaves a little bit to be desired. The bag instead of a box makes it hard to get the sandwich out without sliding either the top or the bottom off or damaging the otherwise decent bun. If this was in a box it would have been fine, but that wasn’t the case.

Wait: Because I had a mask and was able to go inside and order at the window, there was no wait. I was in and out in less than four minutes while the line at the drive-thru – which I was still five cars from even technically entering – hadn’t moved. So, bring a mask or plan on spending some time sitting.

Verdict: In my humble opinion, this was the best chicken sandwich of the three. It wasn’t as pretty or as easy, but the chicken – the core of the meal – was vastly superior, and that made the difference in this informal contest.

KFC

They night not have been the originator of the chicken sandwich, but they’re the originals when it comes to fast food chicken – at least in these parts. It used to be a treat whenever I see would my father walking up the path with a family meal from this place – back when the sign on the edge of Downtown Manteca was a giant, revolving bucket of chicken. But have they been passed up when it comes to the flavor of the week? Let us talk more:

Taste: Not bad, but nothing to write home about. It tasted like KFC chicken, which is good, but there was nothing all that special about it except for the fact that it was boneless and wedged between two pieces of underwhelming bread.

Texture: A little bit on the greasy side – to the naked eye. It was crunch on the outside, but the bread made it a less than perfect method of delivery, and the internal texture wasn’t as juicy as that of its competitors.

Presentation: Vastly underwhelming. This was a textbook example of getting something that looks completely different than that of the picture on the board. This was the third strike for me and took it out of the running for the crown.

Wait: I only had two cars ahead of me, so this was by far the shortest wait of the three. And, given the way it performed when compared to the other two, it’s easy to see why.

Verdict: Skip this one. If you were getting a bucket and some sides, maybe there would be an argument to be made. But if it’s a sandwich that you’re in the market for, you’re better off going elsewhere.

The final verdict: It is in this writer’s opinion that Popeyes makes a better chicken sandwich than that of Chick-fil-A – which may be fighting words for some people, but proved to be, according to my palate, overwhelmingly true. If you had to contend with hundreds of other cars at Popeyes then maybe there would be an argument to be made here, but since that’s not the case the result is clear.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.