Burger King Is Allegedly Pulling These Recently Released Sandwiches Off the Menu
Burger King seems to be doubting its chicken sandwiches yet again. After a highly advertised launch of the crispy, hand-breaded Ch'King sandwiches just last year, the chain is allegedly set to retire the items imminently.
But that doesn't mean Burger King's menu will now be sans fried chicken sandwich—a replacement line is launching in its place right away.
According to Chew Boom, the burger slinger will be replacing the Ch'King Sandwiches—the regular, spicy, and deluxe—with a new line called Royal Crispy Chicken Sandwiches starting this month. By the end of the month, the swap should be completed nationwide.
The Royal sandwiches have begun testing in select markets in May in three versions and it looks like the chain has since added a fourth variety to the mix.
The regular Royal Crispy Chicken Sandwich features a crispy white meat breast fillet topped with savory sauce, lettuce, and tomatoes served on a toasted potato bun. Then there's the spicy version with a triple pepper spicy glaze coating the chicken fillet, with all the same fixin's. The Bacon and Swiss Cheese Royal Crispy Chicken Sandwich consists of a chicken fillet topped with savory sauce, creamy Swiss cheese, bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes, while the Southern BBQ Royal features spiced BBQ sauce, bacon, caramelized onions, and melty cheese.
Burger King still hasn't announced this major move officially and we don't have all the details about how and if the chicken is any different on the new sandwiches, but simply looking at the pictures, the chicken patty seems to be slightly thinner than the piece of chicken served on the Ch'Kings.
Itself a replacement for the subpar Crispy Chicken Sandwiches the chain had on the menu several years ago, the Ch'King line launched in 2021, after two long years of development and much anticipation.
While Burger King seemed to be rather late to the Chicken Sandwich Wars at that point, the initial feedback to the Ch'King provided some hope that late is better than never. While the regular version may not have been anything to write home about (extra-crispy breading and all), the Spicy Ch'King was lauded by customers and fast-food connoisseurs, who said the item was not only a superior chicken sandwich but also one of the best new releases the chain has had in decades.
Still, that didn't seem to be enough to draw in the crowds, and the Ch'King was allegedly a huge disappointment when it came to sales.
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"They spent a fortune on the chicken sandwich and it just didn't do what it was supposed to do," Dan Accordino, CEO of Burger King's major franchisee Carrols Restaurant Group, said earlier this year. "The Ch'King didn't generate the excitement that was hoped for."
Additionally, Chew Boom points out the hand-breaded sandwich was laborious to make, which is a huge drawback for a major national chain looking for high volume sales.
It also doesn't help that Ch'King was one of the unhealthiest fast-food items out there. Eat This, Not That!'s resident nutrition expert, dietitian Amy Goodson, crowned the Spicy Ch'King Deluxe the #1 unhealthiest fast-food item in America, saying it is "just about as unhealthy as an item can get" at 1,499 calories, 149 grams of total fat, and 4,755 milligrams of sodium.
