Popeyes gets wrapped up in the Chicken Wrap battle

Fast food was once built on the humble burger.

Burgers. Cheeseburgers. Double cheeseburgers. Quarter pounders. Big Macs. The Whopper. The Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger. That time McDonald’s sold a burger that kept its hot and cold ingredients separate.

But now, now it is the age of chicken.

The past months have seen Taco Bell introduce Crispy Chicken Nuggets, taking the initiative further with the reveal that Crispy Chicken Tacos and Burritos are on the way. McDonald’s put chicken strips back on its menu with McCrispy Strips along with the promise that the Snack Wrap will return next month.

Popeyes got the early jump on the chicken wrap front, introducing its own Popeyes Chicken Wraps.

Between traveling last weekend and battling a cold for a good chunk of this week, I hadn’t had a chance to check out Popeyes wraps. The fast-food chain launched the modern chicken sandwich war a few years back. Could they apply that magic to chicken wraps?

Where I found it

While you can find a chicken wrap at a multitude of restaurants, this trio came from Popeyes.

What I paid

Each Popeye’s Chicken Wrap was $3.99.

My thoughts

I was late to Popeyes’ Classic Chicken Sandwich when it turned the fast-food world on its head a few years ago. Popeyes wasn’t in my cycle of places to grab food, but that changed when we moved down the street from one. I’ve had many Classic Chicken Sandwiches and Spicy Chicken Sandwiches from Popeyes since then.

If you’re familiar with those sandwiches, you won’t be surprised by the Popeyes Chicken Wraps. They’re available in Classic, Spicy or Honey Mustard, with the restaurant boasting that “each one is packed with a Popeyes hand-breaded and battered chicken tender, crisp lettuce, shredded cheese [and] crunchy pickles ... tucked into a soft, warm tortilla inspired by our famous biscuits.”

While Popeyes has positioned its trio of wraps as three distinct items, they’re really just the same chicken wrap but with a different sauce squirted on them. If the chain’s can’t-miss tenders were actually tossed in buffalo sauce, honey mustard or, um, mayo, then’d they’d feel like individual menu items.

Classic Chicken Wrap

My thoughts: OK, here’s the Classic Chicken Sandwich but in wrap form. Everything’s working here. The tenders are always great, covered in the breading that we’ve all come to know and love at Popeyes. While I can’t back the idea that the tortilla follows in the lineage of the chain’s biscuits, it’s a good tortilla. No complaints there.

There’s also just enough lettuce and cheese to add texture and dimension to the wrap.

Final verdict: BUY

Spicy Chicken Wrap

My thoughts: I love a buffalo chicken sandwich. As a Western New Yorker, it’s my heritage. It’s in my blood. From the ages of 18 to 27, this was the main food flavoring being pumped into my veins and my arteries. Buffalo chicken sandwiches. Buffalo-sauced shrimp. Buffalo chicken chili. Once I started dating the woman who would later agree to marry me, I added more layers to my culinary repertoire — but I still love buffalo chicken.

This chicken wrap is good. My only complaint is that, depending on how it’s wrapped, you might end up with a bit too much sauce left in your final bites.

Final verdict: BUY

Honey Mustard Chicken Wrap

My thoughts: I’ve never had anything topped with honey mustard at Popeyes — is this available on the regular chicken sandwich? — so this was the dark horse flavor in my chicken wrap excursion.

It pays off. Honey mustard is a perfect flavor to pair with Popeyes’ tenders, and it works like a charm in this chicken wrap.

Final verdict: BUY

Final thoughts

If I had to rank the three Popeyes Chicken Wraps (which I clearly am required to do for Snackology readers), my order would be Classic, Honey Mustard and then Spicy. No offense, Spicy, you just lose a few points for the experience of an unbalanced wrap.

The three Popeyes Chicken Wraps are also available in a Blackened Chicken version. I’m not familiar with this variant of Popeyes chicken, but their website says that the sandwich version “will provide guests with a lighter option that is perfect for everyday.” OK, so fast-food chicken that you can eat every day. Got it.