Vol. 14: Popeye’s Wicked Chicken

I must confess something, here.  I’m a junk food junkie.  That much is obvious, already.  But when it comes to junk food, fried chicken is the king of all kings.  And Popeye’s chicken is the emperor of all fried chicken kings.  Adam Sandler got it right in Little Nicky:  “Popeye’s chicken is the shiznet!”  Or, Chris Tucker in Rush Hour 2:  “I don’t like my chickens live!  I like them dead and deep-fried.  You ever hearda Popeye’s?”  There have been several other Hollywood references to Popeye’s, but I digress.

So, thanks to the marketing media mogul that is Facebook, I find out about Popeye’s launching their new product, called “Wicked Chicken,” I immediately plotted a visit.  Actually, within three hours of seeing the ad, I succumbed to marketing coercion, and was actually at a physical Popeye’s location placing my order. 

It seems that Wicked Chicken has ED..

I truly hate to say this, but.. had these strips (you can see, compared to the Cajun fries in the box, they’re very tiny and thin) come from any other competitor, they might not be graded the same way.  The problem herein lies that Popeye’s has kicked so much @ss set the bar so bloody high, that anything even remotely passable falls into the realm of “suck.” 

They’re pretty cheap, currently going for “an order” (read:  7-9 “strip pieces”) of Wicked Chicken, bag of Cajun fries, and a biscuit for $3.99.  The advertisement says it also comes with a miniature bottle of Tabasco sauce, but seeing as how I was there three hours after the product launched, the restaurant I was at didn’t have the Tabasco yet.  [Considering I can’t stand Tabasco, I wondered why I was mildly disappointed at this fact.  –Ed.]  The chicken itself was largely dry, the only real “flavor” it had was the signature Popeye’s batter (which is, admittedly, tasty), and extremely chewy.  From a frozen dinner, these would be reasonable, but from Popeye’s?  Get it the heck together, guys!  The sides included with the combo, I cannot justify as an inclusion in a review of the Wicked Chicken itself.  For my $3.99, I’d rather get a two piece and a biscuit.

The Verdict

2/5.  It pains me to say it, but Popeye’s launched a dud.