Jack in the Box

Elena Ortiz

Supposedly open 24 hours but just tried to grab some food and a coffee before work, pulled up to the drive through and the girl hops on and tells me they’re closed. No apology, no explanation.

S G

Went through the drive through and asked if they still had the dodger deal, the response was “no” but it was with attitude. Upon arriving at the window the girl was not friendly, simply gave me the amount and food. When I got home my chicken sandwich was missing tomato and top bun. I would have driven back but I did not as I am sure I would have just gotten additional attitude and no accountability.

Richard Leuchter

JACK IN THE BOX V. POPEYES: A CRISPY CHICKEN SANDWICH SHOWDOWN. Hide your lighter fluid because this review is about to get LIT. After hundreds of requests from my fans, the poultry face-off you've all been waiting for is finally here. Popeyes brought America to its knees with its revolutionary crispy chicken sandwich, creating such a splash that the rest of the fast-food industry had to follow with waves of crispy copy-cat delicacies. But does the original still reign supreme, or has the competition usurped the throne? Read on to find out, and like this review if you want more head-to-head matchups! Let me start off with some ground rules. I consider myself an expert in most things related to the fast-food and fast-casual dining experience, and my arteries can act as proof that I have consumed thousands of fried chicken sandwiches in my lifetime. But even more than a fast-food aficionado, I consider myself a man of science and must therefore establish the gold standard for a crispy chicken sandwich. For the purposes of this review, that will be a proprietary composite metric averaging all the best qualities from Howlin' Ray's, Dave's Hot Chicken, and Main Chick Hot Chicken. I must also say that I received no compensation from Jack In The Box or Popeyes... I'm poor but at least I'm honest. With that out of the way, let's get into the meat. PRESENTATION As someone who frequents these types of establishments, I expect about as much from presentation as I do from one of Adam Sandler's new straight to Netflix movies. However, as you can tell from the photos, both of these sandwiches looked atrocious. I cut each in half and took side-by-side photos of the cross-sections, and was displeased to see that my Popeyes sandwich was taken from the gluteus muscle of a hen that was clearly taking anabolic steroids...and she appeared have been slaughtered on leg day. The central thickness was far too great, and the edges tapered down to become paper-thin. Overall these dimensions befit a tent more than they did a sandwich. Unfortunately, the Jack In The Box sandwich had the opposite problem: it was entirely too thin and was so processed that it resembled a large, pancake-like McNugget. While not aesthetically pleasing, it was an impressive feat of physics that Jack was able to uniformly stack 6 chicken molecules perfectly atop one another to form a sheet of fowl (maybe a chicken lattice?). My impression at this point is a tie for last place. CONSISTENCY You may be thinking: "Isn't consistency more of a term to describe a soup, or perhaps a slurry of cornstarch and water that one might enter into a science fair to exhibit the shear-thickening properties of a liquid-grain suspension?" In fact, you would be correct, which is why I thought it an apt word choice for the disappointing texture of both sandwiches. It was as if both buns had just been removed from a sauna, and both crispy chicken sandwiches had as much crunch as a gummy bear. TASTE At this point in my meal I'm sure you can imagine my morale is quite low. I'm talking low like French military outside of the early 19th century kind of low. Or worse yet, Italian military at any point in history. However, a ray of light struck my tongue upon biting into the Popeyes sandwich. My taste buds were tickled by a mild spice from the creamy sauce, and the chicken was surprisingly tender. I can't say the same for the Jack In The Box sandwich, which was shockingly devoid of flavor and as dry as the desiccant packet that comes with my beef jerky. In this domain, Popeyes clearly wins. THE VERDICT While both sandwiches were underwhelming, the Popeyes crispy chicken sandwich outperforms the Jack In the Box Spicy Chicken Sandwich on taste alone.

Nathan Hawkes

It’s neat that you can go just about anywhere to a Jack In The Box and it’s consistent with food, preparation, and taste. I’ve always liked JitB. Visiting Santa Monica and needing breakfast in a rush left me few options. Nothing in LA is fast. Thankfully I spotted this location only .5 miles from me. It was a relief. The staff was courteous, fast, and the food was great. Any place that does breakfast all day gets my vote. Stop by if you want inexpensive, fast, and tasty food. This place is great.