KFC or Popeyes?

[GlorifiedRice]

Which do you prefer for Fried Chicken?

KFC or Popeyes?

I prefer Popeyes cause its less greasy, the breading isnt coming off of the pieces, the chicken skin under that breading is correctly cooked and it just tastes really great.

Are there any other Fried Chicken chains out there?

[Soup]

Which do you prefer for Fried Chicken?

KFC or Popeyes?

I prefer Popeyes cause its less greasy, the breading isnt coming off of the pieces, the chicken skin under that breading is correctly cooked and it just tastes really great.

Are there any other Fried Chicken chains out there?

←

Of the two I have to choose popeye's spicy. Actually popeye's is my favorite chicken chain. However, there are many many more chains. A close second from popeyes would be bojangles. I also like Churches fried chicken.

[jsmeeker]

Popeye's all the way.

Spicy. Dark meat. Red beans and rice.

That's how I always order my 2 piece or 3 piece combo meal.

[John DePaula]

Interesting, I was just thinking of starting the exact thread.

Lately, it has become a habit to stop for fried chicken to bring along on a hike. The last two times, we got a) Popeyes and b) KFC.

I gotta say, Popeyes wins hands down. The chicken had a much better flavor and wasn't too greasy. I sure couldn't say that about KFC - some of the pieces were literally dripping in grease. Gross!

Also, the sides were much better at Popeyes. The biscuits were really tasty and the spicy rice/jambalaya was surprisingly good.

Not so with KFC. The BBQ beans were like pork & beans from a can - clearly, no thought went into seasoning this. And the biscuits were "cakey" and not very biscuit-like. Though in all fairness, I should say that the fries were good at KFC.

And I'll end on that positive note...

[baroness]

Last time I had Church's (which seems to have left the area ), the sides were particularly good--chunky cole slaw and drop-style biscuits with a honeyed glaze. Give me good sides and less chicken. Popeyes might do, but I'd get nothing other than the thick-cut potatoes at kfc.

[fiftydollars]

Popeyes, of course.

I agree that Church's seems to have better sides than Popeyes, but Popeyes has better chicken. Church's will occasionally serve up a piece where a large quantity of fryer fat is left trapped between the meat and the skin resulting in a fat hit of oft-reused fryer grease straight to the dome. It's kind of like biting into a soup-filled wonton, but super nasty, yet somehow not entirely bad (go figure?). Anyway, the Church's I usually go to is in a part of town (in the Biggety, Biggety) that I have, at least for now, stopped frequenting after one-too-many daylight by-stander shootings (yeah, I know... call me picky).

Edited September 25, 2007 by fiftydollars (log)

[rlibkind]

Popeyes way ahead of KFC. Not even close.

I also enjoy Church's, but find it's more variable by location.

.

[Dana]

Popeye's - not even close.

[Patapsco Mike]

Popeyes. It's a real steal at the prices they ask for big buckets IMO. It's such a pain to make from scratch. I love me some Popeyes spicy chicken!

[John DePaula]

Popeyes.  It's a real steal at the prices they ask for big buckets IMO.  It's such a pain to make from scratch.  I love me some Popeyes spicy chicken!

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Here, Here!

[maggiethecat]

Popeyes hands down. Or up. And their biscuits are excellent.

[markk]

Well, (gulp), I was gonna say KFC, but now I guess I have to try Popeyes.

[Chris Amirault]

Wow. I find this remarkable. I was going to weigh in on Popeye's, expecting another smack-down like the one I received for backing pie in the Cake v Pie topic. But there's nary a vote for the Colonel. What gives?

Oh, and: Popeye's. I mean, really.

[GlorifiedRice]

Wow. I find this remarkable. I was going to weigh in on Popeye's, expecting another smack-down like the one I received for backing pie in the Cake v Pie topic. But there's nary a vote for the Colonel. What gives?

Oh, and: Popeye's. I mean, really.

←

Chris? ONE word!

The KFC Famous Bowl!

[Fat Guy]

It's not really a fair comparison. KFC sucks. Popeye's not only sells very good fried chicken, but actually sells better fried chicken than most single-establishment "mom and pop" places. You have to go very high up the single-establishment food chain to get better fried chicken than Popeye's makes.

The only fried-chicken chain I've been to that I think is competitive with Popeye's is Bojangles'. That only applies if you happen to live in the Southeast or Middle Atlantic, though.

[gfron1]

Many a night of my undergrad in New Orleans ended at Popeyes. And I'll always hold dear their anniversary specials in the mid 80s where you could get all you can eat for $3. But just for lagniappe, I'll say when I went to Kansas City and needed late night drinking food, I used to go to "Go Go Chicken Go" near Rockhurst for the bucket of gizzards.

[Pierogi]

Popeye's. Absolutely.

I have never seen a piece of fried "stuff" at KFC that even remotely resembled a chicken part.

Plus, as everyone as described above, Popeye's isn't greasy, the breading rocks and the sides are to die for.

[annecros]

There's another chain in the Southeast - Maryland Fried Chicken - that's beats 'em all, hands down. Best livers ever.

[DTBarton]

Popeye's in a walk.

As someone whose first real job at age 16 was cooking KFC, I can say that you can make decent food with the tools they give you (or with what we had in 1976), but you have to do it right. Most KFC places don't let the oil get hot enough before they drop the chicken (gotta be 400) and don't adequately brown the chicken before closing the pressure vat. This leads to greasy, flabby chicken. Generally, they're in a hurry and don't give a rip. Also, in my day original recipe chicken was cooked in older grease, on purpose, to give it the dark color. I actually worked in Gino's, a long gone burger place that also served KFC. Our fat started as 50 lb. blocks of shortening (trans fats, anyone?)

in the french fry vats. When the oil was too dark for fries, it went in the crispy chicken vats (the crispy is cooked in open vats, not under pressure like the original). Too dark for crispy, into the original recipe vats.

Us employees found that the best chicken that could be made at KFC was to use the original recipe breading (much more flavor and spices), but cook it in the crispy open vat. Totally illegal, we got in trouble for doing it for ourselves, we'd have been drawn and quartered if we had tried to sell it.

[Malkavian]

While i agree that KFC is subpar at best, it's strange that I sitll go there; think it's a comfort food thing (memories of childhood with the g'parents and all that)

Bojangles here is hit and miss in my experience, some are great, some seem badly managed/run and it shows in the food and the look of the restaurant.

[Octaveman]

Popeyes. Love the spicy chicken and the non-standard sides. The buscuits rule.

[rooftop1000]

I tried Popeyes once when I was like 18, but didnt know it was going to be spicy...everything was spicy, even the gravy I think it actually made me cry (could have been the first day at a scarey office job too) I have never gone back.

I will try to find one, now that I like food with flavor

tracey

[Jake]

Popeyes, Popeyes, Popeyes! KFC has made me ill everytime I've eaten it in the last 15 years due to the grease.

[Kent D]

Totally Popeyes. I grew up eating KFC, but I don't remember the last time I ate anything from KFC. The chicken pieces are smaller, the chicken never seemed as fresh, and the sides tasted too "commercial".

I actually think that the deli counter fried chicken at our Dillons stores is a much better product than KFC. But we eat Popeyes a couple times a month with a box of their buttery yummy biscuits.

[Marlene]

Popeyes, when I can get it. When I can't the Italian bakery around the corner from me makes awesome fried chicken.