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I tried Wendy's new Maple Butter Chicken Biscuit to compare it with Chick-fil-A's version, and the newcomer is a pale imitation
I tried Wendy's new Maple Butter Chicken Biscuit to compare it with Chick-fil-A's version, and the newcomer is a pale imitation
Irene JiangOct 6, 2019, 18:09 IST
Irene Jiang / Business Insider
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Wendy's has a Maple Butter Chicken Biscuit on its breakfast menu. The chain will be rolling out a version of that menu to all stores in 2020.
The only other major chain to serve a chicken biscuit for breakfast is Chick-fil-A, so it looks like Wendy's new chicken biscuit is meant to compete directly with the Southern chicken chain's offering.
I tried both biscuits to see how they compared, and I found that Wendy's has a lot of work to do before its chicken biscuit can be a serious threat to the Chick-fil-A original.
I tried everything on the breakfast menu that Wendy's is rolling out in 2020, and one item, in particular, stood out to me: the Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit.
The only other major chain that has a breakfast chicken biscuit is Chick-fil-A.
The fact that Wendy's is rolling out a chicken biscuit for breakfast seems like a play for Chick-fil-A's well-established territory. And Wendy's has set itself up for a difficult task in competing with the southern chain's storied offering.
Both fried chicken and biscuits are in Chick-fil-A's blood, while Wendy's expertise is beef and it hails from the Midwest.
So how does Wendy's untested newcomer stack up to Chick-fil-A's reigning champion? I compared the two, and it turns out that the proof is in the biscuit.
Wendy's Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit cost $2.59 at the Manhattan restaurant I went to.
Meanwhile, Chick-fil-A's Chicken Biscuit cost $3.49, also in Manhattan.
Side-by-side, the biscuits are already clearly on different levels. Chick-fil-A's biscuit is taller, firmer, and more colorful, while Wendy's has a more uniform, albeit flatter chicken patty.
Before this chicken biscuit, Wendy's didn't do biscuits. But it sure did do chicken.
Wendy's chicken sandwiches have a cult following of their own and were a tertiary contender in the Chicken Wars of 2019.
But Wendy's is taking quite a risk by introducing a biscuit onto its upcoming breakfast menu, as it hasn't successfully kept a biscuit on its menu before.
Wendy's biscuit looked pale and floury, although the chicken patty inside it looked like Wendy's standard chicken patty, which is popular with fans — but not as popular as Chick-fil-A's chicken.
My first bite confirmed that the biscuit was indeed slightly undercooked. It crumbled into powder very easily, and didn't have much of an outer crunch.
The chicken inside was crispy, savory, and overall pretty satisfying. The maple-infused honey butter had a distinct flavor and served as a sweet intermediary between salty chicken and plain biscuit.
Overall, this sandwich was very savory and very sweet, but its texture was somewhat lacking. Although the chicken was as crispy and flavorful as desired, the biscuit around it just didn't hold up.
Being a fried chicken chain from the South, both biscuits and fried chicken are Chick-fil-A staple offerings.
I was already quite impressed by the shiny golden layer of glaze that covered this biscuit.
The biscuit looked plumper and taller, and the chicken just looked a lot more real.
Chick-fil-A's chicken biscuit felt a lot more solid and substantial in my hand than Wendy's biscuit.
The biscuit was much thicker, crunchier, and more buttery than Wendy's biscuit. Plus, it had the structural integrity that Wendy's biscuit lacked.
Chick-fil-A's chicken was very peppery, or at least the batter was. The chicken inside was tender and flavorful if not all that juicy.
Chick-fil-A's chicken was also thicker than Wendy's chicken patty, although it was less even in shape and size. It was also slightly less crispy, but I've never found Chick-fil-A's chicken to be as crispy as I'd like it to be.
Chick-fil-A's sandwich had the better texture overall, though. When it came to texture, the biscuit itself made all the difference. Chick-fil-A's biscuit held together and tasted much fresher. Wendy's biscuit needed some major work.
I did prefer the maple flavor of Wendy's sandwich to the pepper flavor of Chick-fil-A's sandwich, but everything about Chick-fil-A's sandwich was just of significantly higher quality than its Wendy's counterpart. Wendy's has some major catching up to do if it wants its chicken biscuit to stand a chance against Chick-fil-A.
