Who has the best cheeseburger? Or the top spicy chicken sandwich? The debates end here.
A new ripe fry chicken sandwich has been crowned . The onion rings to rule them all have been named . The fine dissolute food and fast everyday cheeseburgers in all the realm have been institute .
We present to you the victor ofThe Fasties , Thrillist ’s annual fast food for thought awards . For the third twelvemonth in a row , The Fasties are here to observe the inviolable best foods we ’ve eaten out of grease - stained paper bag over the last year with hilariously over - the - top — yet completely serious — laurels in more than a dozen super - competitive categories .
In 2022 , we ’re honour the undecomposed of the best from major fast food chains across the land in 15 categories , includingBest Breakfast , Best Chicken Nuggets , Best Fries , Best Onion Rings , Best Cheeseburger , andBest Fried Chicken Sandwich , to name just a handful . The honoree in an all - new category , Best Spicy Chicken Sandwich , is here to reignite the fast food Gallus gallus rivalry . We ’re also yield fast casual player — you get laid , place like Shake Shack and Five Guys , a share of the estrus lamp limelight , with awards in three separate family . The Fasties ' top pureness , Menu Item of the Year , recognise a bluff Modern offer that ’s trusted to transfer the secret plan . Meanwhile , theMost Valuable Pickle ( MVP)spotlights the best briny cucumbers in the game aright now . You ’ll observe the all over listing of category and winners below .
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The winners of the 2022 Fasties were cautiously selected fromthe course of study of nomineesannounced on April 13 and base on the findings of our wide sense of taste tests ( you should see our expense composition ! ) . We know that handing out accolade to incorporated food string is kind of uncanny and ridiculous , but hey , we do n’t take ourselves too seriously . The Fasties embody our unmatched — possibly worrying — obsession with all things served out of movement - thru windows . And at the goal of the day , it ’s just about having playfulness .
You may agree with some of the success , and you may vehemently disagree with others . That ’s totally cool . We do n’t have to see Roger Eliot Fry to electrocute ( sorry , we had to ) , but you should totally hear us out . As long as we ’re all have a good time talking about , say , just what secern a transcendent onion ring from a merely great one , then we ’re golden . One thing we ’re pretty certain about , though : you ’re gon na get hungry .
And now , the complete list of winners ( and nominees ) in each class …
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Best Breakfast
Winner : Wendy’sNominees : Chick - fil - A , Jack in the Box , McDonald ’s , Taco Bell , Wendy ’s
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Best Coffee
Winner : Culver ’s - Blue Spoon BlendNominees : Chick - fil - A , Culver ’s , McDonald ’s , Sonic Drive - In , Wendy ’s
Best Cheeseburger
Winner : Culver ’s - Double ButterBurger with CheeseNominees : Culver ’s , In - N - Out Burger , McDonald ’s , Sonic Drive - In , Whataburger
Best Fried Chicken Sandwich
Winner : Burger King - Ch’KingNominees : Bojangles , Burger King , Chick - fil - A , KFC , Popeyes
Best Spicy Chicken Sandwich
Winner : Popeyes - Spicy Chicken SandwichNominees : Burger King , Chick - fil - A , Jollibee , KFC , Popeyes
Best Fish Sandwich
achiever : Popeyes - Classic Flounder SandwichNominees : Arby ’s , Culver ’s , Jack in the Box , Long John Silver ’s , Popeyes
Best Taco
achiever : Del Taco - The Del TacoNominees : Del Taco , El Pollo Loco , Jack in the Box , Taco Bell , Taco John ’s
Best Chicken Nuggets
Winner : Arby ’s - Premium Chicken NuggetsNominees : Arby ’s , Chick - fil - A , Jack in the Box , McDonald ’s , Popeyes
Best Fries
Winner : Arby ’s - Curly FriesNominees : Arby ’s , Checkers / Rally ’s , Chick - fil - A , McDonald ’s , Wendy ’s
Best Onion Rings
victor : Sonic Drive - In - Hand Made Onion RingsNominees : Culver ’s , Dairy Queen , Jack in the Box , Sonic Drive - In , Whataburger
Best Fast Casual Cheeseburger
victor : Shake Shack - ShackBurgerNominees : BurgerFi , Five Guys , Freddy ’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers , Shake Shack , Smashburger
Best Fast Casual Fried Chicken Sandwich
Winner : Zaxby ’s - Zaxby ’s Signature SandwichNominees : Fatburger , Freddy ’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers , Fuku , Shake Shack , Zaxby ’s
Best Fast Casual Fries
success : Five Guys - Five Guys Style FriesNominees : Five hombre , Freddy ’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers , Shake Shack , Smashburger , Zaxby ’s
Menu Item of the Year
Winner : Taco Bell - Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco
Taco Bell ’s foray into the fast food for thought volaille wars was … unexpected . The Mexican - inspire chain does n’t exactly specialize in sandwich . But because T - Bell ’s stunt food tycoon simply can not be block off , it line up its fashion into the conversation anyway with a puzzling novel bill of fare item dubbed theCrispy Chicken Sandwich Taco . It was advisedly frame as a sandwich and a taco to instigate a argumentation reminiscent of " Is a hot cad a sandwich ? " but markedly lamer . The sandwich - taco or taco - sandwich hybrid hit the home menu on September 2 .
Thrillist nonplus an early taste of the new offering around that time and see that it was good , but did n’t exactly blow us away as either a sandwich or a greaser . Its careful placement between the two class doomed its voltage for deliciousness . It needed to be one or another to succeed . So , why are we talking about it now ? And why — if it was n’t mind - blowingly near — is it the Menu Item of the Year ? Well , there ’s a couple of thing . Hear us out .
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For one , the Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco ’s late arrival on the fast food volaille sandwich scene all but signaled that the chicken war were over . With a taco chain throwing its hat into the ring , it quick became absolved that the moment , so to speak , should terminate . It was good while it hold out .
The other , more exciting reason it ’s good and of import is that it signaled Taco Bell ’s interest in and capacity to help tasty fried chicken . It produce crispy , flavorful tortilla chip - crust poulet tenders for the sandwich - taco and that ’s a huge deal when you think about what else it could use them for in the future . In fact , we ’ve already realize this fried chicken come out in the chain’sCantina Crispy Chicken Tacosearlier this yr . The possibilities create by this strange so - call off chicken sandwich should charge every Taco Bell buff .
Neither the Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco nor the Cantina Crispy Chicken Tacos are currently on the menu , but we retrieve it ’s safe to assume we ’ll be seeing — and eating — a lot more fried chicken from Taco Bell in the near future . And that ’s corking .
Image by Maitane Romagosa for Thrillist
Most Valuable Pickle (MVP)
Winner : Burger King - Ch’King
In a major disturbance , Burger King ’s Ch’King is engage home the Fastie for Best Fried Chicken Sandwich this year , crush out the arresting Popeyes Chicken Sandwich for this prestigious honour . As we explicate in ourin - profundity chicken sandwich ranking , the Ch’King has a lot of expectant stuff going for it : impossibly crispy fried chicken , a zesty mayo sauce that ties all of the ingredients together , and a pillowy potato bun that could equal the ones served by fancy fast cursory chains . But the one element that helps take the whole sandwich up a snick — and air it over the edge and directly into the land of stupidly delicious is its thick - deletion kettle of fish . They ’re a joy to run through and BK ’s Ch’King would n’t be as good without them . For that reason , they ’re this year ’s MVP .
Miss last twelvemonth ’s Fasties ? In 2021 , we went prominent and producedan entire honor show broadcasthosted by David So and Tim Chantarangsu ofSend Foodz . you could watch or relive the who matter right here ( see the video recording player ) . you’re able to also rewatchthe first Fasties from 2020 .
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