I spend my days writing about the latest consumer trends in chicken consumption, but many of the foodservice chains I cover aren’t yet open where I live in Maine. An opportunity to spend eight weeks in Oklahoma City finally gave me the chance to figure out which ones lived up to the hype.
One that I knew I had to try was Raising Cane’s. The chain is so creative with their advertising, with ad campaigns that feature Post Malone, Snoop Dogg and Joey Chestnut.
My husband and I were both pleased with the chicken fingers and the chicken sandwich, but we’ll both admit that the Cane’s sauce was the star of the show. The tangy sauce complemented the chicken well. Another unique thing about Raising Cane’s, for me at least, is that the chicken sandwich featured chicken fingers instead of the traditional chicken breast.
Another favorite for me was Pollo Campero. I love empanadas, so I was excited to see them as an option on the menu of the Guatemalan foodservice brand. The empanadas were stuffed with freshly pulled chicken, roasted corn, peppers, onion and Monterey Jack cheese. As a plus, I could also order fried plantains as my side, which is a definite change from the standard French fries/sweet potato fries/tater tots option I usually see in foodservice.
For the record, I also enjoyed Braum’s, Sonic, Whataburger, Church’s Chicken, Schlotsky’s, Jack in the Box and, of course, the killer Key Club Turkey BLTA, served without the A (avocado) at the Rock & Brews Casino that gave me a reason to live. Jimmy’s Egg and Taco Mayo are still on my list of places to try before I leave.
I’m excited to return home in a few weeks, but in the meantime, let me know if there’s other chicken foodservice in the area that I should be eating.
In other chicken foodservice news:
· Red Robin is switching to fresh chicken breasts as a cost-saving measure.
· BurgerFi is introducing jumbo chicken wings.
· Wingstop calls its new chicken sandwiches a ‘game-changer’ for the brand.
