The Chicken Sandwich Wars: Wingstop Crispy Tender Sandwich (with Atomic Sauce)
Bottom Line: The Crispy Tender Sandwich that Wingstop is testing is a darn good chicken sammy at a really good price as well.
The Chicken Sandwich Wars seemed to have cooled down lately, overshadowed for a while by the Chicken Tender Wrap Wars (more on that here), and now mostly in a lull. But that hasn’t stopped restaurants from putting out new offerings (Wendy’s recently upgraded their sandwich, more on that here), and Wingstop is combining the chicken sandwich craze with the current demand for value with one of its new offerings.
They are testing a “$5 Flavor Cravings” menu in some areas (including mine), and one of the items is their new Crispy Tender Sandwich. That includes two tenders, pickles, and the sauce of your choice on a bun. I recently ordered one of their wings deals (one of the best values in fast food) and decided to throw the new sandwich in there as well, and I got it with the Atomic Sauce. (Sorry, I forgot to snap a picture of it, so I am just using their stock image above.)
It is a decent-sized sandwich, though not quite as big as their regular chicken sandwich (you can read my review of that one here). The two tenders are nice and meaty, and they have a good crust-to-breading ratio, though they don’t have too much crunch because they slather them in a fair amount of sauce (but they are not soggy). The Atomic Sauce has a nice richness to it and a good peppery kick, with those tenders and the bread soaking up a fair amount of it. The pickles were a bit sparse, though they did offer a nice tangy pop from time to time. The bun holds everything together well enough but does not stand out beyond that. Still, this is one good spicy chicken sandwich.
As for the heat, it delivered on that as well. The last few times I ordered from Wingstop, I noticed that the Atomic Sauce did not seem too hot, but it certainly had some burn this time around. I don’t know if they have adjusted their recipe or if they just put a generous amount on the sandwich, but this was right around Fiery on my scale, and I had to add some of the bleu cheese sauce to cool things down!
As for the calories, they don’t show those for the sandwich since it is a limited-time item, but I am guessing it is somewhere in the 600- to 700-calorie range, which is getting to the high side for a fast-food item. And you know you are not going to pass on their fries because those are so good, so plan on sharing those with someone because a regular order totals 500 calories (and the large is 900).
At five dollars, this sandwich is really quite a value, but the fact is that their regular chicken sandwich is only $5.89 in my area, and it is bigger, so you are not saving too much. Wingstop has always been a heck of a deal on their chicken sammy (and their wings as well), and if you upgrade to the combo with a regular order of fries and a drink, it is only $8.49, one of the best values in fast food. The Crispy Tender Sandwich is rather economical as well and a little lower in calories, so you can’t really go wrong there. It just depends on how hungry you are. And if they are not testing this in your area, just get the regular chicken sandwich (and I recommend the Atomic Sauce) and you will be plenty satisfied.
