With Popeyes advancing to the final round, the stage has been set for the grand finale of the Chicken Dinner Wars. A worthy opponent must be chosen from the two remaining competitors, Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers and The Habit. Let the battle commerce!
If you didn’t catch last week’s match-up, scroll down to the bottom of the page for a refresher on the rules.
With that out of the way, let’s dig in.
Both sandwiches scored dead even in the bun category. Cane’s had a sweeter, more flavorful bun than The Habit, but The Habit’s bun was nicely toasted. Both sandwiches earned solid 8s to get things moving.
The sauce category was not as competitive as the buns were. In Canes’ first battle the only problem with the sauce was I didn’t have enough of it. This time, the sandwich was bursting and dripping with delicious sweet and savory goodness. The beautiful thing about Canes’ sauce is it’s hard to have too much of it. It pairs well with the chicken so being lost in the sauce is almost impossible. Cane’s earns an easy 9.5.
Although The Habit’s sauce was good, a good mayo can only score so high, especially when being compared to the deliciousness contained in the Cane’s sauce. However, The Habit’s mayo was still delicious for a fast food restaurant, earning an 8.
The scores swing back in the opposite direction in the toppings category, as The Habit again dominates in its strongest area of expertise. The Habit’s toppings consist of pickles, lettuce and tomato. All the components taste fresh and do wonders for the overall flavor of the sandwich. The Habit has the best toppings tasted in the tournament, earning a 9.5.
The same cannot be said about Cane’s, which despite being an extremely delicious sandwich overall, has abysmal strength in the toppings category.
The only topping on the Cane’s sandwich is a single piece of lettuce, which is completely drowned out by the intense flavors of the sauce and the chicken. The lettuce is barely noticeable, but slightly more flavorful than it was in its previous bout, earning a 6.
And now for the main course, the chicken category.
The Cane’s sandwich had what might be the best chicken tasted in this tournament so far. The chicken was extremely juicy, tender and flavorful. The use of fried chicken fingers instead of a chicken breast results in chicken that is much higher quality than the majority of its competitors. Without question, Cane’s earns a perfect 10.
The Habit put up a good fight but did not deliver to the same extent it had in its first-round upset against Chick-fil-A. The chicken was exceptionally flavorful, but lacked the juiciness it showed in its first matchup. The Habit earns an 8.
Cane’s again shined in the breading category. The Cane’s breading was flakier than any of its competitors, which preserved the crunch of the sandwich, even when being drowned in sauce. In addition to being crispy, the Cane’s breading was seasoned and perfectly coated the chicken, Earning yet another perfect 10.
The Habit’s breading was just as crispy and flavorful as I remembered from previous battles. The black pepper and herb mix brings the overall quality of the sandwich to something I could definitely see in the finals. But is it as good as Cane’s? Not quite. The Habit earns a solid 9.
With both competitors having very similar prices at $5.39 for Canes and $5.99 for The Habit. No price points will be awarded in this battle.
Cane’s earns a customer service point for exceptionally fast service.
This brings the overall totals to 42.5 for The Habit and a whopping 44.5 for Raising Cane’s!
If you’re a close follower of the Chicken Dinner Wars you’ll have noticed that Popeyes scored the same 44.5 in its semifinal bout, meaning this finals will likely be an absolute barnburner of a matchup.
Lookout for our final championship bout to see who will be crowned Winner Winner… Chicken Sandwich Dinner…
