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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
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.
Read more: Why Wendy's won't serve breakfast
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.
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