Here Are the Winners of The Fasties, Thrillist's Fast Food Awards

There’s a new best burger in fast food. The foremost French fries have been crowned. The debate over which fried chicken sandwich reigns supreme has ended.

Thrillist’s first fast food awards show, The Fasties, have arrived to bestow the ultimate honors on the best foods to come out of drive-thru windows in 2019. We rolled out the ketchup carpet for some of the industry’s biggest names and the rising stars everyone should know about. Hosts David So and Tim DeLaGhetto of Thrillist's Send Foodz presented golden burger trophies to the winners in 16 categories, ranging from Best Burger to -- and this is a big one -- Menu Item of the Decade. We also celebrated a fast food icon's decades of important contributions with the Lifetime Achievement Award, and we said goodbye to the menu items we lost throughout the year during a touching "In Memoriam" reel. The show culminated with the biggest award, Chain of the Year. Of course, there were some shocking upsets. 

The ceremony at New York City's SubCulture was complete with glamorous fast food fashion statements, an enormous spread of fast food favorites, a truly astounding performance by professional competitive eater Miki Sudo, and even an adult-sized ball pit -- filled with both balls and actual adults. No, it was certainly not the first time fast food has been celebrated with awards, but it was a fun-filled party that took Thrillist's fast food expertise and our unmatched hunger for all things served in grease-stained bags to the next level. 

Long before the advent of the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich and the runaway plant-based burger trend, we've had a borderline-obsessive focus on telling you about the latest from chains like Wendy's and Burger King, how to order from In-N-Out Burger's secret menu, and even how to get, say, your favorite nuggets for free. In fact, writers and editors here have been on the fast food beat for more than a decade. 

Yes, handing out shiny cheeseburger statuettes to corporate chains may sound ridiculous, but that's the point. We take fast food seriously, but we also don't take ourselves too seriously. Just look at this ultra-specific ranking of McDonald's dipping sauces or this hour-long podcast all about Taco Bell.

Now, order up your favorite chicken sandwich, make yourself a rum-spiked Frosty, and join us for the show (shown above). You'll also find the winners and nominees in each category listed below.

Popeyes - Chicken Sandwich - WINNER
Chick-fil-A - Chicken Sandwich
McDonald’s - Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Sandwich
Carl’s Jr. - Big Chicken Fillet Sandwich
KFC - Crispy Colonel Sandwich

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Culver’s - ButterBurger Cheese - WINNER
In-N-Out Burger - Double-Double
McDonald’s - Quarter Pounder with Cheese
Whataburger - Double Meat Whataburger
Wendy’s - Dave’s Double

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White Castle - Impossible Slider - WINNER
Carl’s Jr. - Beyond BBQ Star
Carl’s Jr. - Beyond Famous Star with Cheese
A&W - Beyond Burger
Burger King - Impossible Whopper

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Arby’s - Curly Fries - WINNER
Checkers/Rally’s - Famous Seasoned Fries
Taco Bell - Nacho Fries
McDonald’s - Fries
Chick-fil-A - Waffle Potato Fries

People's Choice Winner: McDonald's - Fries

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Del Taco - The Del Taco - WINNER
Taco Bell - Crunchy Taco
El Pollo Loco - Chicken Taco al Carbon
Taco John’s - Crispy Taco
Jack in the Box - Taco

People's Choice Winner: Taco Bell - Crunchy Taco

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Yoshinoya - Cheesecake - WINNER
Wendy’s - Frosty
Culver’s - Vanilla Custard
Taco Bell - Cinnamon Sticks
Jollibee - Peach Mango Pie

People's Choice Winner: Wendy's - Frosty

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Culver's - WINNER
Chick-fil-A
McDonald's
Sonic Drive-In
Jack in the Box

People's Choice Winner: McDonald's

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Chick-fil-A - Chicken Biscuit - WINNER
Subway - Bacon, Egg, and Cheese
Wendy’s - Breakfast Baconator
McDonald’s - Bacon, Egg, and Cheese McGriddle
Taco Bell - Breakfast Crunchwrap with Bacon

People's Choice Winner: Chick-fil-A - Chicken Biscuit

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Raising Cane’s - Chicken Fingers - WINNER
Popeyes - Tenders
Long John Silver’s - Chicken Tenders
Culver’s - Original Chicken Tenders
Chick-fil-A - Chick-n-Strips

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Culver’s - Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese Sauce - WINNER
Whataburger - Spicy Ketchup
Chick-fil-A - Chick-fil-A Sauce
McDonald’s - Honey Mustard
Raising Cane’s - Cane’s Sauce

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Popeyes - Chicken Sandwich - WINNER
Burger King - Impossible Whopper
KFC - Kentucky Fried Wings
Taco Bell - Black Bean Crunchwrap Supreme
Chick-fil-A - Mac & Cheese

Culver's - WINNER
In-N-Out Burger
Del Taco
Whataburger
Bojangles'

Popeyes - WINNER
Burger King
Chick-fil-A
Wendy's
White Castle

Taco Bell - Doritos Locos Taco - WINNER
KFC - Double Down
Popeyes - Chicken Sandwich
McDonald’s - Szechuan Sauce
White Castle - Impossible Slider

This year, Thrillist is honoring ketchup, the king of fast food condiments, for its decades of invaluable contributions to your favorite cheeseburgers, fries, and more. Our video tribute to ketchup (see above), chronicles the surprising history of tomato ketchup -- from its origins to how it impacts fast food today.

There's no other pickle in the game quite like the one on the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich. This briny cucumber, which Popeyes sources fresh and always refrigerated from a Chicago-based company, makes the sandwich the transcendent fast food experience that it is, according to Popeyes Vice President of Culinary Innovation Amy Alarcon.

"That wonderful pickle," Alarcon said in a recent interview with Thrillist. "We had a pickle in the system that we were using, and I don't want to hate on it, but it was just not great. So, we worked with a group of Chicago, Chipico, and the new pickle is a fresh pickle that's refrigerated -- there's no additives. It's just a perfectly wonderful, crispy, crunchy, fresh, pickle. Plus, it's kind of big... The combination of all that together sends it over the edge. That's our secret weapon."

And if you thought Popeyes' pickle choice was the result of endless sampling and research and development, you'd be wrong. The big, salty slices the chain chose were the first -- and the last -- that Alarcon tried while creating the sandwich. It was the perfect match on day one. As she put it, "There wasn't another choice. We just had to have it."

All said, you could absolutely eat the pickles off of the sandwich and they'd be great. But if you eat the sandwich after taking off the pickles, it won't be as nearly as delicious. It won't be mind-blowing. There's a reason why the Popeyes Sandwich, unlike others in the league, doesn't bother to include lettuce and tomatoes: It has an MVP on its team.

While several fast food giants discontinued menu offerings in 2019, only one chain said goodbye to multiple -- and in some cases beloved -- mainstays. Please join us in taking a moment to honor all of the fast food menu items we lost throughout the year.