Fried chicken might be my favorite food aside from ice cream.
Right? Like, you get that wonderful combination of textures – crispy skin, savory and thick chicken meat, and of course…the sauce!
Tons of other people have discovered the same thing, which is why there are new fried chicken restaurants popping up all over the place.
According to one stat, Americans consume an average of 60 pounds of chicken per year (not all of it fried), so it’s definitely a big piece of our diet!
But of course, that begs the question…
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We eat lots of chicken…but which fried chickens do we love best?
The good folks over at YouGov published data for Q4 2024 ranking how well-known and well-liked all of our fried chicken chains are…
(And surprisingly enough – neither KFC nor Popeye’s ranked #1.)
Here’s the full ranking of the top ten chains based on the percentage of people who had a positive view of the restaurant – did one of your favorites make it?
Let’s start with #10:
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 50%
Percent of people who know it who have a positive opinion of it: 30%
My take: Slim Chickens’ wings and tenders are pretty good, but honestly where they shine for me is their 14 sauces (sweet red chili is my current favorite), fun sides (fried okra, fried pickles, fried mushrooms), and their excellent jar desserts (chocolate brownie pudding or strawberry cheesecake – you can’t pick wrong).
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 63%
Percent of people who know it who have a positive opinion of it: 36%
My take: Zaxby’s chicken is perfectly fine, but it’s their sauces that really make the difference. You can toss their “wingz” in one sauce and then dip them in another – meaning you can get some really cool combinations, like teriyaki and hot honey mustard, or Zax sauce and buffalo garlic blaze, or any sauce + their “nuclear” sauce (their hottest – good luck!).
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 73%
Percent of people who know it who have a positive opinion of it: 38%
My take: Bojangles is an old favorite, as it and I are both originally from North Carolina. Their dinners are good, but their chicken biscuits are where they shine brightest in my opinion. (And their hashbrowns are pretty good, too.)
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 82%
Percent of people who know it who have a positive opinion of it: 49%
My take: Tons of options, big portions, reasonable prices – there’s lots to like about Wingstop (which recently branched out into chicken tenders as well). You can pick from 15 different flavors for the wings, plus five dipping sauce options, plus tons of sides. It’s just a good all-around place to go, anytime.
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 86%
Percent of people who know it who have a positive opinion of it: 52%
My take: I’ll be honest – Church’s isn’t my favorite chicken. I generally find the breading to be a little too thick and not quite as crispy as I like it.
(Honestly, in my experience it’s a lot like KFC -but without the nostalgia that makes me like KFC better!)
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 81%
Percent of people who know it who have a positive opinion of it: 52%
My take: Honestly, I’m shocked that only half of Americans who expressed an opinion on Raising Cane’s liked it. I don’t know that I’ve personally met anyone who doesn’t like Raising Cane’s – they coined the term “Caniac” for a reason.
The chicken tenders are plump and juicy, the sauce is great, and the crinkle-cut fries are designed to soak up as much ketchup as possible. What’s not to like?
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 95%
Percent of people who know it who have a positive opinion of it: 61%
My take: Buffalo Wild Wings has always held a special place in my heart for the simple fact that, when I used to wait tables, it was always open at midnight after I got off shift. The other staff and I would go and eat some wings and decompress.
I don’t know that B-Dubs is my favorite fried chicken restaurant or anything like that, but the wings are solid, and they’ve got lots of good sauce options.
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 96%
Percent of people who know it who have a positive opinion of it: 66%
My take: I haven’t eaten at Popeyes as often over the last few years, which is a shame – because it’s absolutely fantastic food. Their chicken is so crispy, and when you pair it with their biscuits and a diet coke…just perfection.
And Popeyes is giving me all kinds of extra reasons to come back these days.
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 99%
Percent of people who know it who have a positive opinion of it: 69%
My take: KFC very narrowly lost to the #1 fried chicken chain, so it’s worth noting that it is a similarly beloved concept! And let’s face it – a bucket of KFC is sometimes just the thing to end a day. (Plus those delicious biscuits.)
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Percent of Americans who have heard of it: 97%
Percent of people who know it who have a positive opinion of it: 69%
My take: Is it true that only 97% of Americans have heard of Chick-fil-A? Where do these other three percent live?
All kidding aside, it’s no surprise that so many Americans love Chick-fil-A. Their original chicken sandwich (not to mention the waffle fries) is just that good!
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So there you have it – America’s top 10 fried chicken chains, according to YouGov.
And let’s face it – each of them is pretty good!
(Ok, sure, we’ve all had a bad meal at one of them at SOME point – but overall, the quality is definitely there.
But here’s the real question:
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What do YOU think?
Are these the best?
Want to quibble with the rankings?
Let us know in the comments!
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