24 great fried chicken sandwiches in the Philly area

If the pandemic can be credited for anything positive, I’d have to point to fried chicken sandwiches.

In 2020, a veritable flock of new entrants joined the game. Chicken sandwiches travel well, always a plus in a takeout/delivery world, and chicken prices are relatively stable, compared with the beef used in burgers.

The region’s chicken sandwich lineup is now a vast, diverse bunch, its bar raised.

Here are two dozen of our favorite fried chicken sandwiches in the Philadelphia area, in alphabetical order. Have one to recommend in the city or immediate Pennsylvania or New Jersey suburbs? Let me know.

Barely a year ago, Asad Khan set up a takeout window from a small building next to the Philly Gas station on the outskirts of Roosevelt Mall at Cottman and the Boulevard, started handing out steaming orders of hot chicken packed in Styrofoam, and the lines followed. The chicken sandwiches can be ordered from “no spice” to a tear-inducing “reaper,” and a smoothie can cool the fires. He’s since opened a takeout nearby and a third location in Bensalem. A location at 3300 Fairmount Ave., a ghost kitchen for pickup and delivery, is on the way.

📍7300 Roosevelt Blvd. and 2327 Cottman Ave. and 2568 Knights Rd. (Bensalem), 📷 @asadshotchicken

» READ MORE: Our favorite halal hot chicken in the region

Chef Art Cavaliere recently shut down Foghorn & Fletcher, his chicken-and-burger eatery on Ridge Avenue in East Falls. Good news: The star of that show, the chicken sandwich with its almost impossibly crunchy crust, has made its way around the corner to Cavaliere’s other place, Black Squirrel Pub & Haunt. Though the sandwich was available in different permutations previously, the Black Squirrel’s build includes black pepper honey, turmeric pickles, and house mayo, with triple-cooked chipson the side.

📍3749 Midvale Ave., 🌐 blacksquirrelphilly.com, 📷 @blacksquirrelphilly

Brittany Tolliferreo got into the bird biz with her first (since-closed) Chick-A-Boom location in a Folcroft strip center in late 2019. Just as the pandemic revved up months later, she and partners opened a second location, with a drive-through, at 46th and Lancaster, later added a food truck at 2400 W. Passyunk Ave., and last month added a freestanding location in Southwest Philadelphia at 2448 Island Ave. (Doughnuts, too, at that one.) Another truck will open July 5 at LOVE Park and six college campuses are on the way. Chick-A-Boom’s chicken sandwiches, cooked to order, are topped with provolone cheese (which they torch), pickle, coleslaw, scallions, and a Thousand Island-like “Boom” sauce. There’s a wide variety of sauces, including mango habanero, honey barbecue, and sweet Thai chili.

📍4626 Lancaster Ave., 2448 Island Ave., and 2400 W. Passyunk Ave., 🌐 chickaboomchicken.com, 📷 @chickaboomphilly

What might be Chinatown’s sexiest bar, in a freestanding building overlooking Vine Street near 13th, serves a Cantonese-inspired crispy chicken thigh topped with cucumber, chili spices, and mayo on a bun; you get hand-cut taro fries on the side.

📍251 N. Clarion St., 🌐fedphilly.com, 📷 @fareastdescendant

They should call this Philly-nurtured chain “Federal Chicken,” since the chicken sandwich (now in regular, barbecue, and Buffalo) outsells the doughnuts. I prefer the regular, finished with buttermilk ranch seasoning, American cheese, dill pickles, and spicy Rooster sauce on a potato roll.

📍various locations,🌐 federaldonuts.com, 📷 @federaldonuts

Five years ago, Gary Dorfman converted Jake’s Sandwich Board into a chicken/egg specialist called Hatch & Coop. Dorfman’s days begin with fluffy egg sandwiches and adds chicken sandwiches as the day moves on. Now he’s rocking ’round the cluck, so to speak, with a 24 / 7 operation at the Washington Square West storefront. The chicken sandwiches, slathered with a blend of sriracha mayo and sweet chili, are excellent, but the true MVP is a chicken and waffles sandwich topped with honey-butter sauce. Hatch & Coop also operates a satellite location out of Grumpy’s Bar at Ninth and Cross Streets in South Philadelphia, and a catering-only partnership with Scoop DeVille ice cream called Hatch & Scoop is in the offing.

📍122 S. 12th St. and 1525 S. Ninth St., 🌐 hatchandcoop.com, 📷 @hatchandcoop

Expect all kinds of surprises from chef Yehuda Sichel’s upmarket corner sandwich shop near 18th and Market, including grilled swordfish, maitake mushroom, and short rib grilled cheese. His spicy chicken sandwich is thigh meat atop pickled chilies, Southwest dressing, lettuce, and tomato on house-baked milk buns.

📍 32 S. 18th St., 🌐 hudaphl.com, 📷 @hudaphl

You see “Sichuan chili oil” in the description and may think that the chicken sandwich served at this cool beer bar-slash-indoor-mini-golf course will scorch your palate. Not so. It’s bold, but the ginger sesame slaw and pickle keep matters in check.

📍1600 W. Girard Ave., 🌐 liberteegrounds.com, 📷 @liberteegrounds

Crunchy nubs of coating, pimiento cheese spread, and a pretzel bun combine for a winner-winner of a chicken sandwich at chef Derek Davis’ corner bistro at 13th and Spruce Streets. It’s available grilled, too.

📍261 S. 13th St.,🌐 libertinephilly.com, 📷 @libertinephiladelphia

Big decision: the Nashville hot or the O.G. at Todd and Laura Lyons’ Northern Liberties mom-and-pop? I’d go with the regular, because the spicy slaw is just enough. Nowadays, there’s a third option: the limited-time McLoven, which puts caramelized onions, American cheese, shredded lettuce, bread butter pickles, and house sauce inside a seeded bun.

📍1100 N. Front St., 🌐 loveandhoneyfriedchicken.com, 📷 @loveandhoneyfriedchicken

Chef Chad Rosenthal’s buttermilk-brined breast, a mainstay on Lucky Well’s menus in Ambler and SpringArts, is among the juiciest around, with a coating that is not overly bready and a smooth ranch sauce. He also has a vegan version using TiNDLE, a newish poultry substitute.

📍 990 Spring Garden St., and 111 E. Butler Ave., Ambler, 🌐 philly.theluckywell.com (Philly) and theluckywell.com (Ambler), 📷 @theluckywell

Reuben Harley, the former front man for sportswear giant Mitchell & Ness in its throwback-jersey heyday and a longtime caterer, has several chicken sandwiches on the menu Thursday to Sunday at Pitchers Pub in Manayunk. Big Rube’s O.G. version, which gets two kinds of sauce atop a slice of melted Cheddar, requires multiple napkins.

📍4326 Main St., 📷 @chefbigrube

Adam Volk shuttered his popular Redcrest Chicken shop at 11th Street and Passyunk Avenue to open the more ambitious Redcrest Kitchen across town in Queen Village. The chicken sandwich, among the crispiest and crustiest you’ll find, is now front and center on the restaurant’s recently revamped menu.

📍625 S. Sixth St., 🌐redcrest.kitchen, 📷 @redcrestkitchen

Seoul and Nashville are nearly 7,000 miles apart, but hot chicken is hot chicken. Peter Hwang’s Center City bar twice-fries the breast — as you would for Korean fried chicken — and adds a hit of capsaicin extract to kick up the spice and add a Korean touch.

📍1801 Lombard St. ,🌐 southgatephilly.com, 📷 @southgatephilly

You get a whiff of Phillies lore along with your sandwich at Colbie’s. Retired first baseman Ryan Howard is an investor in the mini-chain started by brothers Mike and Craig Colby near Mount Holly. Colbie’s also arrived at Citizens Bank Park with an abbreviated menu. Howard’s signature chicken sandwich, the Big Piece, is topped with bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickles, American cheese, and garlic aioli on a sweet Hawaiian bun. I’m partial to the PBJ Kiss. Don’t laugh: It’s peanut sauce, grape jelly, candied bacon, and frizzled onions on a sweet Hawaiian bun.

📍1643 Route 38 West, Mount Holly, 🌐 eatatcolbies.com, 📷 @eatatcolbies.mountholly

With a full line of juicy sandwiches built on brioche buns, waffles, and pretzel buns, this Delco chicken shop covers all the flavor bases. My pick: the hot honey with bacon served on a waffle bun. Do not skip the waffle fries.

📍27 N. Lansdowne Ave., Lansdowne, 🌐 crispchikn.com, 📷 @crisp_chikn

Chef David Murray popped up during the pandemic at Denim BYOB, his former Haddonfield restaurant, with a delivery brand called Cluckwerks. He moved on with chef Walter Gouldsbury to open Crumb Sandwich Joint and now a burger shop called Gouldsburger’s, also in downtown Haddonfield. They build their juicy birds atop their own baked buns. The hot version gets a dose of cayenne butter sauce.

📍109 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield,🌐 gouldsburgers.com, 📷 @gouldsburgers

Rice flour makes everything gluten-free at John Ordway’s suburban chicken storefronts, a sibling of his Jules Thin Crust pizza. My kids actually prefer Lovebird’s thin, crunchy coating to more conventional crusts that use wheat flour. Lovebird’s Nashville hot has plenty of pizzazz, and the slaw only kicks it higher.

📍1301 W. Skippack Pike, Blue Bell; 1086 E. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr; 19 E. Oakland Ave., Doylestown; 247 N. Sycamore St., Newtown; 🌐 lovebirdpa.com, 📷 @chickaboomphilly

Admittedly, the chicken sandwiches offered by Dan Katz’s Pizza Wheel restaurant aren’t a chicken breast patty or thigh filet in the conventional sense — more like South Philly Italian sandwiches — but they should not go unnoticed. My favorite starts with the thinly pounded, crispy cutlets, and includes long hots, grated Locatelli, Mike’s Hot Honey, and a house-made Calabrian chili aioli all on a seeded roll.

📍314 Old York Rd., Jenkintown,🌐 ilovepizzawheel.com, 📷 @eatpizzawheel

Let’s excuse the name of this takeout joint that’s part of Cherry Hill’s pickup/delivery-only FoodieHall kitchen. The crunchy Southerner gets a dollop of pimiento cheese and fried dill pickles for a heart-stopping indulgent sandwich.

📍1931 Olney Ave., Cherry Hill, 🌐foodiehall.menu, 📷 @foodiehallnj

Donnie Moore’s New Orleans-inspired bar-restaurant in downtown West Chester turns out all kinds of inspired fried chicken dishes, including a decadent entrée topped with crabmeat in sweet lobster cream. The star is the buttermilk-brined fried chicken dipped in habanero honey butter, served with slaw and pickles on a brioche bun.

📍117 E. Gay St., West Chester, 🌐thesocialwc.com, 📷 @thesocialloungewc

How can any chain that sells spaghetti and hand pies be bad? Jollibee, whose roots are in the Philippines (though the U.S. operation is out of California), marinates its breasts, yielding a somewhat softer, less crunchy breading than most. For a crazy treat, get a side cup of the gravy that accompanies the fried chicken pieces. Dunk and enjoy. After an initial blast of publicity surrounding its opening last year in a Northeast Philadelphia shopping center, the lines have abated. Drive-through hours are erratic, however.

📍7340 Bustleton Ave. (Philadelphia), 🌐 jollibee.com, 📷 @jollibeeus

One of the more ubiquitous chains, and possibly for a reason: Virtually every light, crispy sandwich of its kind is compared with this Louisiana-rooted chain. There’s a lot of chicken in a lot of bun, with pickles.

📍various locations, 🌐 popeyes.com, 📷 @popeyes

The cult favorite chain out of Louisiana is known for its hand-breaded chicken fingers. They turn into a tasty sandwich built on a seeded bun, though you must eat with care to keep the fingers where they should be. The Cane’s sauce, a sort of Thousand Island dressing with extra zip, completes the package.

📍3000 Island Ave., 1717 N. 12th St., and 3925 Walnut St.; 3617 Horizon Blvd., Feasterville-Trevose; 640 Commerce Blvd., Fairless Hills; 🌐 raisingcanes.com, 📷 @raisingcanes

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