By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Aug 23, 2019 at 5:26 PM Photography: Lori Fredrich

Holidays. Sporting events. The debut of the "Cats" trailer. In these times of strife and division, there are still moments that come along to unite all parts of the country. And now there's a new unifier tying our divided country together: a fast food chicken sandwich.

But it's not just any fast food chicken sandwich – at least according to the internet – it's Popeye's newly released chicken sandwich.

It's hard to believe it took the drive-thru Cajun restaurant this long to stick a slab of its boneless chicken in between two pieces of bread. Maybe they were afraid the world was not prepared for its power. Maybe they were right, as reactions since the sandwich's debut have ranged from ecstatic and downright adorable to angry and frustrated because Popeye's locations have been packed with absurdly long lines and sudden sandwich shortages

Some have even called the new offering the best chicken sandwich out there – a bold statement considering Chick-fil-A has long claimed the title of the finest of the fast food chicken sandwiches.

Is Popeye's Chicken Sandwich really the best?

It was a claim that OnMilwaukee dining editor and FoodCrush podcast co-host Lori Fredrich and I had to investigate for ourselves. So, she brought her well-honed culinary palate and food expert acumen to the table; and I brought my empty stomach and arteries clogged from decades of late night fast food runs. 

And after standing in line at Popeye's for a mere 50 minutes (!), we snagged ourselves both an original chicken sandwich (breaded boneless chicken, a slice of pickle and a spread of mayo) as well as the spicy rendition. And we pitted them against both the original and spicy versions of Chick-fil-A's lauded chicken sandwich.

So is Popeye's new sandwich really that good? Good enough to warrant a wait of almost an hour?  And does it deserve to be crowned as the new chicken champion?

Let's dig in and find out!

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.