McDonald's New Chicken Sandwich Is Out Today, and the Reviews Are In

Today is the day McDonald's unleashes its three new premium chicken sandwiches onto the world! The highly anticipated Crispy Chicken Sandwich, the Deluxe, and the Spicy, are available nationwide—right now.

Will these sandwiches blow America out of the water, or will they mark another failed attempt by McDonald's to compete with the big dogs? Many fans have already weighed in with their reviews online, so we flocked to social media to find out.

Our first stop was the Instagram account of Bill Oakley, the Simpsons writer turned prominent fast-food critic. He had all three versions of the sandwich, which he tried as early as Monday. "This thing is indeed the best chicken sandwich ever served at McDonald's," he said. (Related: McDonald's Is Making These 8 Major Upgrades.)

So Mickey D's has apparently outdone itself, but what about the rest of the competition? Oakley expressed optimism about McDonald's odds in the chicken sandwich wars, saying it ties for second place. "It wallops Wendy's, it wallops Burger King, it ties with Chick-fil-A, and it's 85% as good as Popeyes," he concluded.

Oakley also noted that the sauce on the Spicy is "quite spicy for a fast-food sauce, and the more you eat, the more it builds up." It seems as if McDonald's took a note from the overwhelmingly positive reaction to its Spicy Chicken McNuggets and Mighty Hot Sauce.

Fast-food Youtuber Reviewbrah described the new chicken filets as "tender, juicy, and flavorful." His favorite of the three sandwiches was the Spicy sandwich, which he would grade as an 8 out of 10. Overall, he found the "crispy" aspect of the chicken as lacking.

Major fast-food Youtuber Daym Drops agreed that the Spicy is the best of the bunch, rating the regular Crispy as "a 4 out the door, the spicy edition, 4.5 [out of 5]"

Whereas some customers tweeted their enthusiasm, others pointed out similarities between the competition.

The new spicy crispy chicken sandwich at McDonald's SLAPS

— anthony (@AnthonyGuyLegos) February 21, 2021

BREAKING: I got my hands on the new chicken sandwich at McDonald's. Wasn't expecting this until Wednesday. Pretty good, I like it more than the Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Sandwich. Potato bun is excellent.

(This is the deluxe version. Regular just comes with pickles and mayo.) pic.twitter.com/3rfOLNNbV1

— ?????? ????? (@SonderQuest) February 20, 2021

Mcdonald's is trying so hard to compete with Chick-fil-A with their new Crispy Chicken Sandwich (right down to the foil bag) and… Meh. It's a lower quality cut of chicken, and still not as good.

— Chris Poirier (@BetaChris) February 23, 2021

Hey @McDonalds new Crispy Chicken Sandwich… ???? sorry. Maybe mine wasn't good. Not Crispy at all, more wet. Sorry not for me.

— Rob Newton (@robert_newt) February 24, 2021

Americans have strong opinions about the great chicken sandwich wars, and the general public appears to be split right down the middle when it comes to loving or hating its latest entries. But one thing's for sure—McDonald's has captured our attention yet again.

For more on fast-food innovations, check out the 6 Most Anticipated Fast-Food Menu Items Launching This Year. And don't forget to sign up for our newsletter to get the latest restaurant news delivered straight to your inbox.