{"id":8792,"date":"2016-04-04T08:45:18","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T13:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/burgersdogspizza.com\/?p=8792"},"modified":"2016-04-04T08:45:18","modified_gmt":"2016-04-04T13:45:18","slug":"chicken-strip-smackdown-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/?p=8792","title":{"rendered":"Chicken Strip Smackdown in the South"},"content":{"rendered":"

Swinging thru the South, seemed like a good time to do a \u201ccompare and contrast\u201d on chicken strips, or fingers, tenders, or whatever you call them.\u00a0 I would have preferred doing a compare and contrast on bacon strips, but that would make Mrs. BDB unhappy, unless she was co-judging.\u00a0 Next trip.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s not a chicken strip gal, though; she says a true gourmand\/gourmet would only eat the dark meat of poultry, so I\u2019m just some trashy white meat eater with chicken and turkey.\u00a0\u00a0 But that\u2019s why we\u2019re together and so compatible, together we can polish off a bird with no leftovers, except enough for her to crank out her fantastic home-made soups!<\/p>\n

I think I\u2019ve covered the tender spectrum, pretty much, KFC, Popeye\u2019s,\u00a0 Zaxby’s,\u00a0 Chester Fried, Bojangles.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t go to Chick Filet because it was a Sunday when I passed one, and they aren\u2019t open on Sundays.\u00a0\u00a0 I didn\u2019t get to a local favorite in New Orleans \u201cWOW\u201d (World of Wings) because of timing.<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s the rundown.<\/p>\n

Although I recently crowed about liking Bojangle\u2019s breakfast, I didn\u2019t think their chicken was on a par.\u00a0 The strips were small(ish) and with no distinguishable seasoning.\u00a0 They come with a little pot of Honey Mustard sauce, and a biscuit.\u00a0 My recollection is it was north of $5 for the 4 strip box, and most chains the price is about the same.<\/p>\n

I mentioned World of Wings<\/a> (Wow Caf\u00e9) .\u00a0 This was a start-up from New Orleans, I first went when there was one location, and now they are spreading across the country, but not as fast as another Louisiana start-up, Raising Cane\u2019s<\/a>, which is rubbing up against national penetration.\u00a0 What I liked about WOW was you could have your wings\/tenders TOSSED in a selection of sauces, as well as get a wide variety of dipping sauces.\u00a0 Not sure if they still do it that way, but I liked mixing up my order, with half on the buffalo side, half with some variation of Thai Peanut.<\/p>\n

Then of course, there is Popeye\u2019s<\/a>, another Louisiana creation, and really the only nationwide contender to KFC.\u00a0 \u00a0It\u2019s our go-to chicken place most often, I\u2019d say, as both me and Mrs. Burgerdogboy like their chicken, the spices, and she especially digs the red beans and rice side dish.\u00a0 Superb.\u00a0 I like their LTO\u2019s, too, from time to time you can get a piece of catfish or some special shrimp prep.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t know about the genius that started Popeye\u2019s, Al Copeland, you should look up his story sometime.\u00a0 Smart dude.\u00a0 Dead.<\/p>\n

Zaxby\u2019s<\/a> was started in Statesboro, Georgia, and today has over 500 locations.\u00a0 It\u2019s a chicken finger centric menu, but with a more inviting dine in atmosphere, a variety of sauces, and a fairly large offering of sides and extras.\u00a0\u00a0 Deal clincher for me?\u00a0 A piece of Texas toast in every pack.\u00a0 The chicken is good, the fries are crinkled, and the Zak sauce is some pink mayo slightly spicy thing.\u00a0\u00a0 One day, someone will invent a truly \u201csecret sauce.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019d be a regular if there was one nearby.<\/p>\n

Zaxby\u2019s menu is online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Chester Fried, or as I call it, \u201cgas station food\u201d, but in the deep south, they often refer to these counters in gas stations as \u201cfry delis\u201d, and they offer breakfast sandwiches, chicken, fish pieces, sometimes shrimp, sometimes BBQ.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s often cooked on site, independently, or connected to a marketing affiliation agreement with a company like Chester Fried.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What I like about these places is you can order by the piece, and I was in the mood for 2 strips, and one honking big piece of catfish.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what I got, for less than $4.\u00a0 No fancy sauces or preparations here, it\u2019s down and dirty food on the run.\u00a0 And damned good. \u00a0Previous story on chick\/Chester Fried<\/a>.<\/p>\n

KFC?\u00a0 Consistent with the chicken, but the rest of the menu seems to vary regionally.\u00a0 I do like the outlets that have a buffet, but that seems to be a phenom of KFC in the Deep South, only.<\/p>\n

Verdict?\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ll remain a loyal customer of Popeye\u2019s but wait eagerly for times I can get back to Zaxby\u2019s. (Unless Mrs. BDB is cookin’).<\/p>\n

\"Bojangle's<\/a>
Bojangle’s Chicken Strips<\/dd>\n
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Chester<\/a>
Chester Fried<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"KFC<\/a>
KFC Strips<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Zaxby's<\/a>
Zaxby’s Chicken Strips<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chicken Strip Smackdown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Swinging thru the South, seemed like a good time to do a \u201ccompare and contrast\u201d on chicken strips, or fingers, tenders, or whatever you call them.\u00a0 I would have preferred doing a compare and contrast on bacon strips, but that would make Mrs. BDB unhappy, unless she was co-judging.\u00a0 Next trip. She\u2019s not a chicken… Continue reading Chicken Strip Smackdown in the South<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,34,35],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8792"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8792\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}