Worth the hype? Calgarians have mixed reactions over famous Popeyes chicken sandwich

The Popeyes chicken sandwich has been a popular topic in the U.S. the past couple of months, with people flooding social media, starting fights when restaurants sell out and even Saturday Night Live writing a sketch about it.

The Popeyes chicken sandwich has been a popular topic in the U.S. the past couple of months, with posts about the fast food flooding social media and customers starting fights when restaurants sell out. The sandwich has even been the subject of a Saturday Night Live sketch.

This reaction left many Canadians wondering just how good this chicken sandwich was and in June some parts of Canada, specifically Edmonton, were given trial access to the popular item.

This left Calgarians all the more curious — but the wait is now over.

This past Monday, billboards and signs went up featuring the burger, leaving Popeyes Louisiana Kitchens in Calgary with lines out the door.

And let's just say reactions varied, with some Twitter users saying Americans hyped the burger a little too much, only for it to be dry.

So, the Calgary Eyeopener sent restaurant critic Elizabeth Carson to brave the takeout line and assess just how good this sandwich really is.

“The chicken was moist. It had full coverage of the thick batter over the entire piece of chicken. It was crispy, it was crunchy, and it didn't taste too salty or greasy, which is kind of amazing,” she said.

“And the toasted brioche bun was chewier and heavier than what a good bakery would produce. But actually, it wasn't bad for fast food.”

However the food critic said it only came with  two slices of pickles and sadly not much chipotle mayonnaise.

“And, you know, you need more pickles. The sour pickle is a really good foil to all the richness of all the other ingredients.”

All in all, she says the first bite wasn't bad.

• To listen to Elizabeth Carson's full review on the Calgary Eyeopener, check out the link below!

Does Popeye's chicken sandwich live up to the hype? Restaurant critic Elizabeth Carson joins us with her answer. 6:46

“And then I dug it up with a packet of Louisiana hot sauce, and then added hefty dollops of the coleslaw side, and that changed it up to something I actually thought was pretty darn good,” she said.

However what really surprised Carson was the mayhem in the Popeye restaurant itself.

“I was at the 17th Avenue location and the lineups were super long. There's a dedicated door dash queue. Cars were lined up down 17th Avenue for the takeout window and the staff are being yelled at by customers for the over 20-minute wait time on some of the orders.”

She adds that despite the sandwich being good, she still gives it 3.5/5 stars.

“That's the best I can do for fast food,” 

Calgarians react

It's been a week since the sandwich has been in our neck of the woods, and the reviews are mixed.

The Popeye's sandwich has 700 calories, 380 from fat, MSG and almost 1500 mg from salt, which was something this Twitter user definitely noticed.

Popeyes chicken sandwich 6 outta 10. My burger was screaming high cholesterol

—@abxoxo__

However these two Calgarians vote that is indeed worth the “hype.”

Forget what I said yesterday. The spicy Popeyes chicken sandwich is to die for 10/10

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—@Ketsiatshienda

Popeyes chicken sandwich. Taste is 7/10, but the texture?? 10/10.

—@E_mac01

Others called out the American for being too generous when rating this burger and that they are not a fan.

I hate Americans. Hype up that Popeyes chicken sandwich just for it to be a decent. They put a drop of mayo it was dry 🤣

—@Ketsiatshienda

@PopeyesChicken your chicken sandwich is overrated tbh!🤢👎🏽 #popeyeschickensandwich pic.twitter.com/C01rZ1d2QU

—@giiiicooo

What would you rate the Popeye's chicken sandwich? Tell us in the comments below!

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