Restaurants across Chicago continue to battle for the title of the best chicken sandwich. With the Popeyes marketing around their chicken sandwich skyrocketing sales when it was first released, I’m determined to show my readers that the city has far better chicken sandwiches to offer — Fry The Coop’s spicy butter fried chicken sandwich being one of them. This was my first experience at Fry The Coop and I wasn’t disappointed—I don’t think you’ll be either.

Full order

• Spicy Butter Fried Chicken Sandwich 
• House Fries
• Delivery Service: Pick-Up
• Price: $15

Review

4.5/5 stars 

A delicious, filling spicy chicken sandwich and fries for $15 is a price, for me, that cannot be beaten. Sure, you can get other chicken sandwiches for cheaper at places like Popeyes, but you’re paying for quality. I’d rather spend the extra money and get a chicken sandwich worth writing about — and that’s exactly what I did. 

The spicy butter fried chicken sandwich from Fry The Coop was a delicious combination of a smoky dry rub breaded chicken breast, a pillowy brioche bun and a schmear of housemade, spicy honey butter. The crunchy breading — coated with a flavor packed dry rub — paired beautifully with the spicy honey butter, a harmonious mix of sweet and spicy. Good bread is key to a good chicken sandwich and the brioche bun on this sandwich sealed the deal — delicious! 

I enjoyed this delicious chicken sandwich for reasons outside of just flavor. When selecting “spicy” for any chicken sandwich in the city, I immediately worry that it may be too spicy and ruin the sandwich for me (an occurrence that’s happened too often in the past). No, I’m not hyper-sensitive to spicy food, some chicken places in the city simply do not play around with their spices — this is where Fry The Coop initially shone in my eyes.

When I went to select the spicy chicken sandwich, I was able to select from a list of five different spice levels: Country (no spice at all), Mild, Medium, Hot, Crazy and Insanity. For the purposes of this review, I opted for Medium, just to be safe. After that first bite, I was super pleased with the spice level and would even opt for a level higher (hot) next time. I really enjoy how they offer a wide range of spice levels to their customers — showing that they want to appeal to all types of consumers, which in the long run, I’m sure works great for them ($$$). 

When eating a chicken sandwich, a good side of fries can make or break the experience. Luckily in this situation, both the fries and sandwich made for a delicious meal. The fries were perfectly cooked — slightly crunchy on the outside and perfectly soft on the inside — as well as topped with a yummy spice blend that tasted smoky and sweet — similar to the sandwich, which made them a perfect pairing. 

Overall I give my experience a 4.5 / 5 stars. I really enjoyed my takeout experience with Fry The Coop —so much that I could definitely see myself ordering there again. The sandwich and fries I had were simply delicious and the insulation was good enough to keep my food hot until I got home, a major key to any takeout or delivery. I don’t want to give the 5 star chicken sandwich award away just yet. There are more places to try in the city.

Perhaps I’ll circle back around to this after trying a few more and see if the chicken sandwich crown truly belongs to Fry The Coop. But overall, a delicious takeout experience and one I would definitely recommend to others.