So it seems Popeyes Louisiana kitchen has decided to step into the chicken wing battle! While they are primarily known for their chicken sandwiches, this time as a first Popeyes has decided to permanently add 5 new flavors of chicken wings to their menu.
I absolutely love fried chicken so you know I had to try these out! These new flavors include 1) Roasted Garlic Parmesan, 2) Ghost Pepper, 3) Signature Hot, 4) Sweet ‘N Spicy, 5) Honey BBQ. Looks like a good variety of spices to cater to everyone’s taste!
In order to give you all an accurate opinion, I went with the single most requested flavor: Roasted Garlic Parmesan.
Buying The Popeyes Chicken Wings
You can easily place orders online or just go to the store in person. Popeyes website will provide you with multiple options and combinations you can try to match your preference. There was a relatively new Popeyes store 10 minutes from my house so I really wanted to check them out.
Apparently the hype was real! As soon as I arrived there were 7 cars in the drive-thru so I decided to just walk in. Lo and behold inside there were multiple orders of wings waiting to be picked up. The staff were doing their best getting all orders out.
The individual that took my order was very polite, courteous, and had a lot of patience amidst the chaos. I ordered a single 6-piece Popeyes Roasted Garlic Parmesan chicken wings and with tax it came to $6.48.
Paying a dollar per wing seems to have become the norm nowadays. I was out of there with my food within 10 minutes.
Let us see how our order turned out and if it matched the promotional image Popeyes shows in their commercials!
How Did Popeyes Chicken Wings Look Like
As soon as I opened the box, that beautiful garlicky parmesan aroma took over the entire space and I knew I was in for a treat!
Now I will say the sauce distribution was definitely off as two of the wings barely had any sauce, four more were slightly more coated, and to my surprise we totally scored a free seventh wing that was glazed all over.
Popeyes batter is always on point so I was not surprised to see that super crunchy and golden brown texture on every wing. I do however wish these wings were bigger as each wing was no larger than the dipping sauce containers…and that definitely leaves something more to be desired for the price paid.
Perhaps if they were boneless wings it would be okay but to have bone-in wings of that size is not something that would attract customers to either make a purchase or even refer it to other friends and family members.
Now lets get down to business with the best part of the review…taste testing!
How Did These Popeyes Chicken Wings Taste
The first bite thanks to the batter was super crunchy with only one problem…I barely got a spec of chicken meat, rather it was all batter. Thankfully the other 6 wings had a little more chicken in them. The chicken itself was moist, flavorful, and fried to perfection.
There have been times I’ve had wings where it’s been overdone and the chicken is dry, so I am glad that was not the experience here. I was also honestly surprised that not a single wing had any kind of burnt texture appearance.
The spices in the batter were flavorful enough to hold their own, whereas the Roasted Garlic Parmesan sauce could have used some work. The sauce was decent but nothing that made it stand out.
It was one of the weirdest sensations because when I opened the box, the smell of garlic was intense, however it did not match what I was tasting as the garlic flavor was very mild to almost nonexistent.
The parmesan flavor was rich, bold, creamy but it kind of defeats the purpose as I wanted to try Roasted Garlic Parmesan wings and not just Parmesan wings.
Since the promoted sauce was lacking its full potential flavor profile, I decided to dip one of the wings in the buttermilk ranch they provided as well. Trying out wings with ranch is an absolute must for me as I am sure it is also the preferred combination for many.
That one and only bite, given how tiny the wings were, sent my taste buds through a rollercoaster sensation! It was the perfect harmony of flavors.
When a key component of your promotion or in this case half of the desired ingredients are missing, it becomes somewhat difficult to give a detailed review. Again, the small size of the wings meant I was only able to get one good bite which was 70% of the wing since this was a bone-in wing.
How Can the popeyes chicken wings be improved
Considering the sauce is a crucial component and selling point of the final dish, it would be great if Popeyes locations were a little more generous with the sauce distribution. Also it would be nice if the wings were not as tiny as customers will be paying a dollar per wing for a 6 piece chicken wing order.
overall thoughts
It is an exciting time to see Popeyes venturing into the chicken wing field and permanently adding 6 new flavors to their menu.
While the flavor on my order was definitely pretty decent, I feel like maybe my experience was not as good as I had hoped considering the actual size of the wings, the sauce missing the “garlic taste”, and the uneven spread of the sauce on my actual order.
It could very well be that my order was rushed through which would explain the one free wing! Either way I think next time I will try another Popeyes location and check out 2 other flavors!
Remember Popeyes has total of 5 new flavors to choose from:
- Roasted Garlic Parmesan
- Ghost Pepper
- Signature Hot
- Sweet ‘N Spicy
- Honey BBQ
Overall Rating: 6.8
If you are a lover of chicken wings, then this is an absolute must for you! This definitely has the potential to easily be a solid 8.0 if the wing portions were slightly bigger and sauce was better flavored. Your experience may differ from mine and hopefully it is more positive!
