The Problem With Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich That Customers Can't Ignore

Often considered the upper echelon of fast food chicken sandwiches, Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich has received tons of praise since its debut in 1995. However, a recent overhaul of the iconic meal has fast food fans in a tizzy. "Tried the new spicy chicken upgrade today," began a Redditor in the Wendys subreddit. "What the heck did they do to my favorite fast food sandwich?" Of the many gripes listed by the poster, the size of the sandwich was most egregious. "Patty was smaller. The patty sat completely under the bun. Old spicy chicken was bigger than the bun."

Lest you think this is an isolated incident, there were plenty more complaints about the size of the Spicy Chicken Sandwich. Elsewhere on Reddit, a commenter said of the revamped item, "The size and shape used to be similar to that of a Chick-fil-A sandwich. Now it's a flatter than Kansas patty." After ordering the new sandwich, another poster also noted, "The patty definitely seems about half thickness overall." For the record, Wendy's claims that patty size is largely consistent with the previous iteration (as reported by Restaurant Business). As for what changed, Wendy's added a potato bun, developed a new marinade, created a spicier panko-style breading, and switched to a Southern-style mayonnaise (creamier, tangier, and without the sweetness of other mayos). The updated sandwich also features pickles alongside tomato and lettuce. 

Wendy's has experienced its share of struggles, from closures to lagging sales. That likely explains why the chain felt the need to make updates, though it doesn't clarify why Wendy's would reduce the size of what a Redditor referred to as "one of my favorite fast food spicy chicken sandwiches." Per Restaurant Business, acknowledging that dogged love of the OG sandwich made the update process challenging. Becky Davis (Wendy's vice president of global culinary innovation) explained, "We started hearing that [customers] were looking for a boost in flavor and quality." Wendy's faithful have their own theories about what happened to the heftiness of the beloved sandwich, however. 

"If it's Wendy's, it's 'New, less expensive to make' sandwich," replied a commenter in a Reddit post inquiring about the reasons behind the spicy chicken changes. Another Redditor blamed the downgraded sandwich on the restaurant being owned by a private equity firm concerned primarily with profits, though that's not entirely accurate. Wendy's recently turned down an offer from Trian Fund Management due to claims that the $1.4 billion valuation was too low. However, the firm does maintain a sizable stake in the restaurant, and it's bound to make another offer if Wendy's continues to struggle. 

How can you get your spicy chicken fix in the meantime? "BOJANGLES' is officially my new REPLACEMENT for the Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich," declared a Reddit post. Mashed also named the restaurant's Cajun chicken filet biscuit No. 1 in our ranking of popular Bojangles' items from worst to best.