Popeyes launches new spicy chicken sandwich as competition heats up

This giant chicken McNugget has a spongy texture matched with an exterior that is painfully salty; $1.

Church's Chicken sandwich includes a sad, small patty with a few inconsequential pickles; 99 cents. 

Dairy Queen uses an actual piece of chicken, not a chicken patty, but it's tough and bone dry. None of the other components were much better. And what's up with the waffle-looking bun? $3.89. 

What a misleading name for such a diminutive, boring offering; $2.

The oblong bun gives you a clue that there's a chicken patty underneath. It's joined by a handful of lettuce and more mayonnaise than you'll ever need; $4.49.

What are chicken rings? Are they some unheard of part of a bird? Nope. They are just chicken patties shaped into rings, and they taste slightly less good than White Castle's other option; $1.79.

This certainly looks the best of the McDonald's fried chickens, featuring a glistening bun and whole leaves of lettuce. But the chicken is shockingly salty, overwhelming every other flavor. $5.10.

Kudos for the mayo restraint. Sadly, a little black pepper is all I could detect on this dull offering; $4.49.

Greasy, dry and defiantly mild, this confused offering sours the good name of Nashville hot chicken; $6.19.

This is the highest rated sandwich using a chicken patty, mostly because it's so inoffensive. But I also liked the soft, warm bun, and the simple slice of cheese worked better than a deluge of mayonnaise; $1.49.

Though it looks like someone punched it in the nose, the classic chicken sandwich here is probably the best chicken offering at McDonald's. That said, the crust is outrageously salty, and most of the components are thoughtlessly hurled on; $3.

Burger King's regular sandwich beats the similar offering at McDonald's by a hair, mostly due to the fact that the crust is very slightly less stupidly salty; $4.69. 

If you have to get a fried chicken sandwich at Burger King, this offering's slight touch of heat gives it the edge. Still, you have to deal with mayo overload; $4.39.

As you can tell by the photo, someone in the kitchen upended an entire jar of mayonnaise on this sandwich. That said, the chicken tenders were nicely seasoned with the Colonel's distinctive blend of herbs and spices; $5.39. 

The fried chicken is thin and exceptionally crispy, if also a tad dry. The well toasted bun is a great touch, and the toppings are fresh; $5.29. 

Without the spice, Wendy's chicken sandwich tastes rather uneventful. Nothing is particularly bad, mind you, and the chicken has a decent crust; $5.56. 

KFC's best sandwich option features an extra crisp piece of chicken on a toasted bun. It's a petite offering, but one that mostly delivers the goods; $5.69.

Chick-fil-A's offering in the spicy category was the mildest one I tried, which knocks it down the list a bit. Still, the chicken is juicy and the bun is soft; $4.49. 

Of all the spicy fried chicken sandwiches I tried, none came anywhere near the spice level of Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich. I'd still call this more of a medium heat, but the warm glow helps add some actual excitement to each bite; $5.59. 

This solid option also starts with a frozen chicken fillet. Fortunately, it's moist and seasoned with lots of black pepper. Instead of a jumble of chopped lettuce, it's placed on top of a crisp iceberg lettuce leaf; $5.29.

Of all the chains that use frozen chicken fillets, Arby's came out on top. That's mostly due to the extra crispy crust of the chicken. All the other elements worked well, too. The soft bun houses the chicken without getting in the way. The lettuce and tomato also didn't taste like they'd been left in the cooler for a couple weeks; $4.99. 

Raising Cane's serves chicken tenders and not a lot else, so the chicken sandwich here is really just a bun with a few tenders tossed on. But guess what? Those tenders are breaded and fried in house, so they have a crackly crust that shatters as you dig in. Plus, instead of boring mayo, the sandwich gets a liberal drizzle of Cane's sauce, the restaurant's own tangy, spicy concoction; $6.79. 

Chick-fil-A knows what it's doing. The white meat chicken is always tender and juicy, and the bun is always steamed until soft and pillowy. While the pickles are small, the sandwich is blessedly free of mayonnaise and iceberg lettuce. The only real criticism, and it's a big one, is that the crust on the chicken is not very crisp; $4.15.

The chicken in Popeye's sandwich crunches audibly when you bite in, with all those nooks and crannies on the surface shattering into a thousand delicious pieces. This makes for an exciting contrast to the soft bun. The chicken itself is also juicy and well-seasoned, without tasting wildly over-salted like the fried-chicken sandwiches at McDonald's; $3.99

This was not even close. Shake Shack's offering had the crackliest crust, the juiciest meat and the best toppings. I especially loved the Martin's potato roll, which is certainly the softest bun around. Instead of a basic mayonnaise, this gets a spread of a buttermilk and herb mayonnaise, which lends a tangy freshness to each bite. Shake Shack also understands the importance of pickles, adding extra crunchy thick-cut versions. The catch? Shake Shack doesn't have nearly as many locations as the rest of these chains; $6.79.