When it comes to fast food poultry, Popeyes is a giant making serious gains. Its celebrated catalog of chicken sandwiches and chicken dinners has already won over a huge portion of the U.S. population, and now its new wing menu is poised to do the same. Since wings were permanently added to the menu, sales have been through the roof—so they must be incredible, right? I went to the nearest Popeyes here in Los Angeles to assess the good and the bad. Read on, because there’s plenty of both.
It’s worth mentioning that some people are posting online about how these wings have destroyed their stomach. This post on Reddit titled “Am I The Only One Who Toilet Blew Up Because of The Popeye’s New Wings” was clearly written in such a rush that I believe whatever happened to this person was indeed dire. Granted, Reddit is filled with people claiming food has made their stomachs turn, but the reason I mention this particular instance with Popeyes wings is because after trying them, I found myself in a similar position. These wings are loaded with sauce, salt, heat, grease, and breading. In short, they’re a gut bomb, and you should know that before diving in.
It’s like alcohol: abstain from it for a few months, and that first glass of wine is liable to get you drunk. Similarly, I’ve been eating pretty healthy these days, so ingesting an order of Popeyes Sweet ’N Spicy wings felt like doing a keg stand from a barrel labeled “nuclear waste.”
Still, it might have been worth it. I did actually have a great time eating these wings, and there are plenty of noteworthy things about them. First of all, an order of six wings costs $5.99, which is a pretty damn good deal because these wings are filling. I mean, just calorically, each wing has somewhere between 100-200 calories (according to the placard I read at my local Popeyes). And 200 calories per wing is pretty high, but there’s a delicious culprit: the abundance of breading on each one.
The breading on Popeyes’ wings rules: a crispy, craggy texture, glistening with sauce. It just looks appetizing, man. I couldn’t wait to dive into these glossy drums and flats. However, as good as the breading is, there’s simply too much of it, and I was astonished at how little wing meat is actually underneath it all:
Where’s the meat? Plump, juicy bar wings these are not. But despite that horrible breading-to-poultry ratio, I still found myself enjoying the experience of eating them. The flavors are really well engineered. Here’s a review of each one, ranked from worst to best. (Just, ya know, proceed with caution.)
