The skinny: 3.5 Yums out of 5.
The fat: My college buddy Brian D. hailed from Alabama, GA, where Chik Fil-A is probably the most popular fast food chain. (Ever heard of the Chik Fil-A Bowl?) The closest Chik Fil-A from my home in San Francisco is in Fairfield, CA, about 70 miles away. When Brian briefly moved out here, he made me drive with him to Fairfield to get some. It might've been cognitive dissonance from the long drive but I was really surprised by how juicy and tasty the sandwich was without requiring mayonaise or ranch dressing. Brian later moved away (perhaps not enough Chik Fil-A's around here) but since then I've made a point of it to drop by every time I drive to Tahoe/Reno/Sacramento. Since that doesn't happen too often, I would often go a full 12 months or so without eating Chik Fil-A (I manage to get one when I go home to Boston for the holidays).
In an oddly prescient turn, I had just dropped by Fairfield on my way to Reno and had eaten a Chik Fil-A sandwich. As I ate, I pondered, "Wouldn't it be nice if we had a Chik Fil-A in the Bay Area?" Lo and behold, 2 days later I dropped into McDonalds for a late breakfast and saw the words, "Southern Style Fried..." And the rest, as they say, is Edible Trash history.
The sandwich
Ok, this is a straight-up rip-off of the Chik Fil-A chicken sandwich, done by your good friends at McDonalds. A fried chicken breast patty on a simple bun, with butter and a pickle being the only condiments, McDonalds also has a breakfast version - the Southern Style Fried Chicken Biscuit. The sandwich was only available in select restaurants for a few weeks, but has now joined the regular sandwich roster.I find that on some days, the fried chicken patty can be overdone (too dark) and some days on the more soggy side. The breading doesn't have the same crispy and nubby texture as McDonalds Chicken Select Strips or their crispy chicken sandwiches -- it's more of a batter breading and not a crumbly breading. I happen to like the breakfast biscuit version as well, but my friend Huy N. says it is too dry. I happen to like it with a bit of McDonald's Hot Mustard McNugget sauce.
The sandwich occupies a similar place on the menu to the "Big n' Tasty", which is McDonalds' Whopper rip-off. I can only hope that the sandwich will maintain its current quality and size and not become a miniaturized and crappier version of its inspiration, as the Big n' Tasty has done (those things look like Whopper Jrs. these days). I noticed that at the same time McDonalds launched the sandwich, they simultaneously increased the price of all other combos by about $1.
The name of the sandwich is a mouthful in its own right. Southern Style Fried Chicken Sandwich - try saying that 3 times fast. Somehow I always want to say "Southern Fried" and not "Southern Style Fried". I had a lot of trouble ordering over the drive-through intercom. Good thing it's now available as a combo.
Nutritional Facts
(http://www.mcdonalds.com...)
The SSFCS sandwich has relatively high sodium, but otherwise the other numberse seem reasonable. It's not the healthiest thing you could eat on the menu, but you could do a lot worse (the Premium Crispy Chicken Ranch BLT sandwich has 1510mg of sodium, while the Double QPC has 740 calories and 42g of fat). Just skip the fries or get a small fries and a Diet Coke and you should be fine.
Restaurant: McDonalds (all US markets?)
Name: Southern Style Fried Chicken Sandwich
Price: ~$3.49 sandwich, ~$5.49 combo
Tastes like: Chik Fil-A Chicken Sandwich
calories 420
calories from fat 170
total fat 19g (29% RDV)
saturated fat 3g (16% RDV)
trans fat 1.5g
cholesterol 50 mg (16% RDV)
sodium 1090mg (45% RDV)
sugars 6g
