Popeye's Rip'n Chick'n

Sometimes, living in New Hampshire, we see commercials on television promoting restaurants that are nowhere near us. Normal people say to themselves, "Heck, if I'm ever on a road trip and I see one of those places, I'll be sure to stop!" But we are another breed. When we see one of these commercials we immediately consult the internet. We find out where the nearest one is and try to decide if it's worth the drive to go check it out.

Well when we were contacted by Popeye's chicken, asking if we'd be interested in reviewing their new Rip'n Chick'n, we did just that. Looked like the nearest Popeyes that wasn't a small rest-stop version was a little over an hour away, so we hopped in the Fatguyfoodblog-mobile and made it happen. 

None of us had ever had Popeyes before so we were eager to try it out. Our first impression when walking through the door was surprise at how insanely busy it was. 

and this was at 3 in the afternoon!

The staff wasn't messing around though. They were like a well oiled machine, taking orders, filling them and getting customers on their way in record time. The entire time we were there, the line was this long, a flow of people constantly through the door.

They were running a great deal for the Rip'n Chick'n. $3.99 for the chicken, fries and a buttermilk biscuit. That became the backbone of our meals. How can you pass up a deal like that? We couldn't. So we all got that and then some other things from the menu.

helluva spread right there

So what exactly is the Rip'n Chick'n?

It's a bunch of stuck together chicken fingers!

Some Rip'n Chick'n's are prettier than others. 

The Rip'n Chick'n is basically a chicken breast that is sliced into strips but still connected at the bottom. Then it is battered and fried creating something similar to a blooming onion... but chicken. It's a bundle of chicken fingers that you tear off to eat. Definitely an interesting meal. They kind of looked like deep fried crab...

or in Mike's case, an alien hand. 

HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

You rip it...then you dip it. 

The first thing I noticed after plucking a petal from this chicken flower, was that it was definitely spicy. One of the descriptions says it's marinated in 4 different peppers before being battered and fried and you could definitely taste them. But being a wimp when it comes to hot stuff, I was still able to enjoy this without it getting too hot. But don't be fooled, the Rip'n Chick'n does have a bite to it! It was a bit too much for wimpy Mike to like it, but he wasn't doing himself any favors by dipping already spicy chicken in what was a very cool dipping sauce- "blackened ranch." All in all the chicken was great, the spice was tasty and I thought the batter was great. Their array of dipping sauces worked out nicely for these too, (except for them being extra money per sauce. Good thing we charmed one of the ladies there into sneaking us a few).

The biscuits were buttery & delicious!

Looking around, it seemed like they were having another promotion...THE SUMMER OF PEACH! So I was sure to pour myself a peach iced tea, which I noticed you could purchase by the gallon jug! That's a fat guy's dream. Like that drink you just poured yourself at the fast food restaurant? BRING HOME A JUG! But the other part of the summer of peach? The Peach Pie! So I got one of those but decided that I should also get an apple one and put them in a head to head battle.

The peach was tasty and sweet. But in the end the apple pie won this bout with ease. It was covered in a pound of cinnamon sugar and every bite was delicious. 

So in the end, our adventure to Popeye's was a success. We found and reviewed the fabled Rip'n Chick'n, and introduced ourselves to a corner of the fast food universe that we had never visited before. We no longer have to wonder what Popeye's is like when we see the commercials on television. There's no longer that gap in our fat guy brains. We've filled it in with tear-away chicken fingers, cinnamon-sugar dusted apple pies, incredibly crisp and quality chicken tenders and nuggets, and Cajun fries (which were quite crisp and delicious). We have to say, if you find yourself out in the open and you spot a Popeye's and you've never had it, stop on in. Scoop up a Rip'n Chick'n, a couple of apple pies & a jug of Peach tea. You'll be glad you did.
For more information on Popeyes restaurants or the Rip'n Chick'n check out www.popeyes.com.