All hype aside, it's a good sandwich

Not to brag, but I've eaten a lot of fried-chicken sandwiches in the past year. One might even declare that I'm a fried-chicken sandwich expert. (What an amazing honor that would be, right?)

I didn't gain this title by idly sitting around. I've tried at least 70 different fried-chicken sandwiches in the past 12 months. Along with ranking the 15 best offerings you can only find in Chicago, I for some reason also decided to try every single fast food fried-chicken sandwich I could get my greasy hands on.

Obviously, I'm obligated to have an opinion on Popeye's new fried-chicken sandwiches, which were dominating social media recently.

Last time I tried the fried-chicken sandwich at Popeye's, I wasn't exactly thrilled. That dish might have been called a po' boy, but it was little more than a few chicken tenders tossed on a soft and tasteless roll that would have been laughed out of New Orleans. While the chicken itself sported a crunchy crust with juicy meat, it didn't make for a terribly great sandwich. (That it nonetheless landed at number 10 in my fast food ranking, proves how awful most fast food fried-chicken sandwiches tend to be.)

Hoping to take on Chick-fil-A, which landed at No. 2 on my list and has been expanding exponentially over the past few years, Popeye's decided it was time to step up its game. The new sandwich is one that — shocker! — looks an awful lot like Chick-fil-A's. It's a simple sandwich featuring only a soft bun, a hulking piece of fried white meat chicken, pickles and mayo.

We ranked fast-food fried-chicken sandwiches from worst to best --

But it also has one thing Chick-fil-A does not: crunch. My biggest gripe against Chick-fil-A is that while the chicken is juicy, the crust isn't crisp. Popeye's chicken, on the other hand, crunches audibly when you bite in, with all those nooks and...