The War on Poultry: Chick-fil-A’s new spicy grilled chicken sandwich

by Joseph Sweeney | editor-in-chief

On June 18, 1971, President Richard Nixon, during a press conference, declared drug abuse “public enemy number one.” A new war, now known as the war on drugs, was declared.

In October 2001, President George W. Bush sent troops into Afghanistan in wake of the September 11 attacks, resulting in one of the longest ongoing conflicts in American history: the war on terror had begun.

Now, in 2021, the capitalist regime of American corporations have invaded chicken coops around the world, in a new conflict known as the war on poultry. 

Though certainly not a new concept, many companies now seek to perfect the art of chicken sandwich production, no matter the cost. And now, Chick-fil-A has entered the arena to set an early standard for its biggest competitors to try and topple.

The grilled spicy deluxe is a new limited edition sandwich, introduced in January, and is by far the greatest item on the restaurant’s menu. At only $5.45 and 410 calories, it is definitely an improvement over the higher calorie and fat content of the classic spicy chicken sandwich.

After being test marketed in 2019, this sandwich has recently made its debut at restaurants nationwide alongside Chick-fil-A’s signature cilantro lime sauce, something designed specifically for the sandwich.

In terms of fast food grilled chicken, I have little experience, so needless to say my expectations were quite low. I distinctly remember trying the grilled chicken club, a grilled chicken sandwich with the usual lettuce and tomato, as well as some bacon and cheese, some years ago and being left disappointed, and at first, with the spicy variant, I felt the same wave of disappointment flooding over me.

Though I haven’t tried many restaurant’s attempts at grilled chicken, I can say with confidence that most of them probably taste the same with that artificial and rubbery texture. Heck, the grilled spicy even has the same boot-print esque design of the dreaded McDonald’s McRib. But once I added the new cilantro lime sauce, I completely changed my mind about this sandwich.

On its own, the sandwich is not that spicy, but once this sauce is added, just the right amount of spicy flavors are really able to shine through in the sandwich. Almost as if I were the modern day equivalent of Christopher Columbus, I came seeking copper, only to find gold. Minus the slavery part though.

I honestly can’t think of anything else to say. Normally I would be bashing and joking about the low quality of this sandwich, but now all I can think about is how much I enjoyed every bite of it. Let’s all pray for a moment that it is able to become a mainstay of the Chick-fil-A menu.

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