Chili’s is looking to offer fast food-style chicken sandwiches in an FSR format with the debut of its new Big Crispy Chicken Sandwich and the new Spicy Big Crispy Chicken Sandwiches.
Available now from Chili’s restaurants nationwide, the new Big Crispy lineup consists of six different takes on a crispy chicken sandwich. The original Big Crispy Chicken Sandwich consists of a hand-battered chicken breast paired with mayo and pickles on a toasted bun. Meanwhile, the Spicy Big Crispy Chicken Sandwich features the same crispy chicken breast, but with a new spicy mayo and pickles. Other variations on the sandwich include the Honey-Chipotle Big Crispy, the Nashville Hot Big Crispy, the Buffalo Big Crispy, and the Deluxe Big Crispy. The latter options are all served as an entree with creamy white cheddar mac and cheese and fries.
Image Credit: Chili’s
What Makes This Trend Stand Out
- Fast-casual Fried Chicken Elevation
- Hand-battered, premium-style chicken sandwiches indicate a move toward elevated fried chicken offerings that can command higher price points in casual dining.
- Modular Sandwich Variations
- Multiple flavor permutations like honey-chipotle, Nashville hot and buffalo reveal a modular product approach that supports scalable menu customization and targeted regional rollouts.
- Fsr-fast Food Hybridization
- The adoption of fast food-style sandwiches within full-service restaurant menus signals blending service models that could shift customer expectations around speed, price and quality.
Sectors Adopting This
- Full-service Restaurants
- Casual dining concepts can leverage premium handhelds to diversify revenue streams and attract value-oriented diners seeking comfort-food experiences.
- Food Manufacturing and Co-packers
- Demand for consistent hand-battered textures and spicy mayo formulations opens opportunities for co-packers to supply ready-to-heat components at scale.
- Restaurant Technology and Delivery Platforms
- Growth of shareable, entree-style sandwiches with sides creates potential for platforms to optimize bundling, packaging integrity and hot-hold logistics for delivery.
