The birth of our new grub-tastic BBQ Chicken Sandwich
People who enjoy our BBQ chicken asked how we could make a dish that kids with braces could easily eat. Even our CEO’s daughter, Grace, has a tough time handling a chicken leg, and getting every morsel of meat off the bone. Chef Travis feeds his own kids, Sawyer and Caden, so he approached the challenge with wisdom.
Chef Travis’ answer was in shredded chicken, coated with our sweet BBQ sauce, all tucked into a whole wheat white bun. The concept seemed easy, but then his real work began.
First, how much sauce? You don’t want a soggy bun, which makes eating our sandwich not easier, but harder. So we tested and tested until we came up with the right sauce to chicken ratio. It was a delicious math problem.
Next, what should we pair with it? Corn was a popular idea, but that led to too much moisture, which could again make the bun soggy. We opted for our roasted red potatoes. Some eaters think these are supposed to be French fries. They aren’t French fries. These taters have the skin (lots of fiber!), never touch a fryer (we don’t even have one in our kitchen!) and are tasty, especially with ketchup. Finally, we had a perfectly balanced hot lunch, but we had to put this in front of kids. Over three days, we had over 1000 kids try our new BBQ chicken sandwich.
We received lots of responses on our feedback comment section of the menu, with huge numbers of tasters declaring it “grub-tastic,” “mouth-watering,” and a “perfect hot lunch.” It wasn’t all praise (some said we still had too much sauce, which we corrected) and others thought they were ordering pulled pork (nope, this is a chicken sandwich) but overall, this entrée got the kid-approval we strive for.
In April, you will see our BBQ Chicken sandwich on your Choicelunch menu (in fact, it is on April’s fool day!). Taste it for the first time, and tell us what you think!
