Review | The best chicken sandwich on Pitt’s campus

Oakland is crawling with chicken restaurants, a fact all Pitt students know. It weighed heavily on my mind — which chicken place around campus is the clucking best? For the sake of science, I decided to visit every chicken restaurant in Oakland to determine the winner. 

Now, what makes me so qualified to rank chicken sandwiches? I would say I am a self-proclaimed chicken sandwich lover. I love a basic chicken sandwich at most restaurants and usually prefer it to a burger. Trust me, I know what it means for a chicken sandwich to be good. 

To make my ranking as fair as possible, I established criteria that would help determine which sandwich is the best. These categories include pricing, the size of the sandwich, the type of bun used, sauce, add-ons and general taste. The restaurants I included in my ranking were McDonald’s, CHiKN, Layne’s, Cane’s, Chick-fil-A and The Roost. For a week, I only ate chicken sandwiches for lunch, and thus I determined which restaurant came out on top. 

Starting in last place is The Roost. Located in the Cathedral Cafe on the ground floor of Cathy, the sandwich I got from here did not impress me in the slightest. When I ordered, I got the meal swap deal, which got me a sandwich, drink, fries and my choice of sauce for only $12. I thought the price of the entire meal was pretty good, considering how much food you get for only one swap, but I can’t say the same about the actual sandwich. 

Instead of getting a chicken breast in the sandwich, I got 2 tenders between a brioche bun, which I wasn’t expecting at all. There were no other add-ons like lettuce or pickles, which also deducted points from the overall ranking of this chicken sandwich. For general taste, it was one of the driest pieces of chicken I’ve ever bitten into. It was also incredibly bland, and I had to cover it in sauce just to make it edible, ultimately putting it in last place. 

In fifth place, we have Layne’s, which is on Forbes Ave. This was my first time eating here, so I was going in blind with my expectations. For a little over $11, I got the chicken sandwich meal, fries, my choice of sauce and a medium-sized drink. Like the Roost, the sandwich consisted of 3 chicken tenders instead of a chicken patty or chicken breast. Obviously, this is personal preference, but I do not like having tenders as the base of the sandwich. Another thing that bothered me was that the bun was two pieces of Texas toast, which made for a harder bite than I usually like.

Overall, I thought this sandwich was just OK. The “Layne’s Sauce” on the sandwich was fine. The chicken was fine. The bread was fine. Everything about this sandwich was just fine and really didn’t blow me out of the water, forcing me to put it in fifth place. 

In fourth place was CHiKN. This was another restaurant that I was trying for the first time, so I didn’t have any expectations for what I was going to get here, either. The CHiKN sandwich was by far the most expensive sandwich that I got — I paid over $15 for the sandwich, fries and a drink, which is absolutely ridiculous. Their chicken is a Nashville hot style with dry rubbed seasoning, focusing on their range of spice levels more than anything. 

Their chicken sandwich came with pickles, some type of sauce and coleslaw on top. With a large chicken breast in the middle and two soft buns, this was a very good sandwich. What really threw me off about it was the dry rub. I got mild, just so I could have a good comparison to the other sandwiches I had tried, but it really wasn’t my favorite. I felt like there was a lot going on in the sandwich when I prefer a more basic flavor profile in a chicken sandwich. 

Now on to my top three chicken sandwiches on Pitt’s campus. In third place, we have McDonald’s. This one was tough to rank, but I think third is a solid place to put their chicken sandwiches. They have the McCrispy — which is more of your classic chicken sandwich — and the iconic McChicken, a staple in the McDonald’s menu. The McCrispy is your basic chicken breast, buttered buns and pickles. Although it doesn’t sound like much, the flavor of the chicken wasn’t bland, yet it complemented the juicy chicken breast with the crunchy pickles. As for the McChicken, it’s honestly one of my favorite items on the menu. With just lettuce and mayo, it is a perfect combination. Along with being tasty, it’s also super cheap. The McCrispy and the McChicken are two amazing sandwiches, but there are better on campus. 

Coming in at second place, we have Cane’s. Fairly new to campus, Cane’s is a restaurant known for its chicken, and rightfully so. I am a personal fan of their chicken tenders, so I had very high hopes for their sandwich. Much like the Roost and Layne’s, their chicken sandwich consists of a couple of chicken tenders instead of a proper chicken fillet. The tenders were hot, juicy and crispy, but I would have much rather preferred a chicken fillet. The Cane’s sauce was a major reason I put them second. Added to the hot, crispy chicken, it really pulls together a fully-formed sandwich that is just amazing. 

In first place is Chick-fil-A. Honestly, it’s no surprise that Chick-fil-A came out on top of the fast-food chains I tried. Their sandwich is simple but done well. It’s a juicy, well-seasoned chicken filet paired with a buttery bun and a little bit of acidity from the pickles. It’s consistent every time — filling without being too heavy — and the variety of sauces makes it super easy to customize to your taste. It’s good chicken, and there’s nothing else I can say about it. It will always be a favorite, for obvious reasons. 

Ultimately, there is so much good food surrounding Pitt and in Oakland in general. I definitely recommend that you try these places if you haven’t, because you might end up really liking them or even finding a new favorite.

Danae Poteat writes primarily about pop culture and current events. Write to her at dmp152@pitt.edu.