America's Favorite Fried Chicken Sandwich Is From This Southern Chain, According To Yelp

Crowdsourcing a choice and fried chicken sandwiches — it's hard to imagine a more blue-bloodedly American combination than that. Fried chicken sandwiches are everywhere these days, with seemingly every national chain getting in on the action. While everyone's a winner thanks to the abundance of this perfect dish, there can only be one champion of the fried chicken sandwich, and thanks to Yelp, we now know which chain comes out on top.

The winner of the 2025 Top Chicken Sandwich Chains award, according to Yelp's press release, is the Southern institution Chick-fil-A. The no-frills, juicy chicken patties that always fit perfectly on the bun, which is the perfect bread for holding all that chicken, are so delightful that the chain can withstand staying closed on Sundays and still hold onto the top spot in Yelp's rankings.

Not every chain ended up making the criteria for this contest, so if your favorite isn't listed, it might not have been snubbed. Yelp specifically considered companies with over 100 locations that operate in multiple states. From there, it came down to how cuckoo for chicken the reviews were.

Unfortunately for some diners, this sandwich is not ubiquitously present throughout the country. There are two states without Chick-fil-A: Vermont and Alaska. For residents of those two snow-packed states, as well as any diners jonesing for poultry on a Sunday, here are some of the other top contenders for the crown.

While it might not boast the household recognition of a McDonald's or Kentucky Fried Chicken, the runner-up in this competition goes to the upstart Dave's Hot Chicken, which has over 300 locations, per ScrapeHero, primarily in California, Texas, and New York. The LA-based chain has gained notoriety for its reaper chicken, which requires a waiver to eat. Raising Cane's, Shake Shack, Popeye's, Habit, Denny's, Wingstop, McDonald's, and Zaxby's round out the rest of the top 10. Zaxby's holds a stronger grip than expected, with a massive amount of support in the West and South, where it ranks first and third, respectively, in popularity.

For those who aren't satisfied there and want to work their way through the entire list, the next 10 up are Jack in the Box, Dairy Queen, Slim Chickens, Burger King, Wendy's, Sonic, Bojangles, KFC, Arby's, and finally, Church's Chicken. If you get to the end and have a differing opinion, Yelp encourages you to tag it on Instagram or TikTok to share your feedback.