Pretty much all of the fried chicken places out there are firing salvos into the chicken sandwich wars these days trying to generate the next Popeyes-like buzz for there stores. Golden Chick is a Texas original and still one of the smaller chains, but it enlisted some brand name recognition for its new spicy sammy with the well-known Cholula sauce, rather a smart move.
The piece of chicken inside this sandwich is not real thick, but it is not too thin either. And what it lacks in girth, it makes up for in width. It is a decent size piece of whole breast filet (none of that ground-up chicken patty stuff here) with just the right amount of breading. The Cholula sauce sticks well to the crust without making it soggy, and it is not overly messy either. As you would expect from this sauce, it does not bring a ton of heat because it is one of the milder ones out there (but it still counts as Go-To Sauce). Extra sauce is an option for this sandwich, and I went with that, but that did not add much additional heat. But it still has a little bit of kick and plenty of flavor because the Cholula works well with Golden Chick’s very tasty chicken breast. And the pickles give an extra boost with the right amount of sourness and a touch of sweet, making this much like a mild Nashville Hot sammy.
But I have actually saved for last the one item that brings this sandwich to the next level and makes it a real contender in the spicy chick wars: the bun. They refer to it as an extra-large roll, and it is basically a larger version of the rolls you would get with a chicken platter. It is soft and airy with a buttery crust, and it is oh so sweet and delicious! The sweetness of the roll gives the perfect counterpoint to the tanginess of the sauce as well as the sour from the pickles and brings this sandwich close to the level of masterpiece. This is no dry and tasteless hamburger bun off the store shelf, this is a little piece of heaven. And if you don’t have a Golden Chick near you, I’m doing you no favors by telling you how good this sandwich is. (But they are looking for franchisees.)
If you do have a store in driving range, this is a good starter sandwich for those who want to know what all the fuss is over spicy chicken sandwiches but may not have built up much of a tolerance for heat. This sandwich brings plenty of flavor but not an assault of spiciness. And for those who do want an extra kick, bring of bottle of your favorite liquid heat and throw a few drops on top (the nice folks behind the counter won’t rat you out). But not too much because you don’t want to overwhelm the wonderful flavors here, especially from the luscious bun. (Did I really just write the words luscious bun? This review may be getting an NSFW label . . . )
The regular chicken sandwich is quite good as well with the Lotta Zing Sauce (our lawyers advise me to point out that is a registered trademark) bringing a nice kick. And that heavenly bun! (Better than luscious bun? This review is spiraling fast . . .). The website does not give the nutritional info on its chicken sandwiches for some reason, but I’m going to guess the Cholula sammy packs at least 600 calories and well over 30g of fat. This is not diet food. and since you are splurging anyway, pick the fried okra as your side instead of fries. Yum! They also have Cholula Chicken tenders, but no extra-large roll comes with that.
Golden Chick got its start right here in Texas with the first restaurant opening just up the road in San Marcos in 1967 (called Golden Fried Chicken at that time). The franchise has expanded into Oklahoma, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, and Florida, and if you have one near you I highly recommend checking them out. Not only do they have one of the best spicy chicken sandwiches out there, but their full menu (which also includes wings and fried catfish) has plenty to choose from. And take note that the Cholula Chicken Sandwich gets taken away by the limited-time-only Grinch in February, so be sure to grab one of these while it is still on the menu!