Wendy's, Shake Shack & More Chains Have Joined the Popeyes vs. Chick-fil-A Battle

The chicken sandwich war just got a lot spicier -- and yes, we have Popeyes's new chicken sandwiches, both classic and spicy, to thank. 

Popeyes came out swinging after proving to eaters -- including us -- that they have the best fast food fried chicken sandwich in the game right now. I mean, it's not shocking: the bun is plush and slightly sweet; the chicken is deeply savory and crispy, with just the right amount of hot oil glistening throughout; the pickles are tart and a perfect complement.

But Chick-fil-A didn't appear to appreciate the Louisiana chicken chain encroaching on its fried chicken sandwich kingdom. The company's Twitter bio haughtily reads "We Didn't Invent The Chicken, Just The Chicken Sandwich!" and a subtweet that went up on Monday implied that its sandwich is the true original:

As we previously reported, Popeyes didn't take the subtle shade lying down, however, and fired back Wendy's Twitter-style with a quote retweet:

And suddenly, the floodgates opened. An avalanche of memes hit in the tweet's replies and almost every fast food chain began to chime in, thirsting for a fraction of the attention Popeyes and Chick-fil-A have been getting in the media and throughout the blue checked world of Twitter.

Wendy's, who relaunched spicy chicken nuggets to much fanfare, this month announced that it, in fact, has the tastiest chicken sandwich; the other two were just fighting for "second best."

Meanwhile, Shake Shack slithered in and hypocritically subtweeted about offering chicken sandwiches without "the beef." I mean, buzz off with that holier-than-thou rhetoric, Shake Shack -- you are now just as complicit in this beef as any other chain. 

Church's retweeted a fan maintaining their chicken is the best, which we don't necessarily agree with (though if this were a biscuit ranking, Church's would far and away be in the lead with their glorious honey-glazed hockey pucks).

Meanwhile, KFC has remained eerily quiet. You'd think that a place that actually has "fried chicken" in its name and recently launched a neon orange Cheetos-dusted chicken sandwich would have a lot of stake within the ongoing chicken feud. But alas, it has minded its own business as the chicken-related jabs raged on. 

Maybe it's for the best.

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