When
Arkansas Times
food editor Rhett Brinkley told us that a new chicken chain from Texas called Layne’s
would be opening
on McCain Boulevard this year, we sarcastically replied that we could finally get chicken tenders on McCain now.
There was, arguably, already a surplus of fast food chicken on the strip before Layne’s pulled up earlier this week, with Popeyes, Chick-fil-A, and of course, Raising Cane’s, already serving up all the hot and ready poultry you could ask for.
But the surprising similarities in the name, style, menu and, well, location of Layne’s and Cane’s had me thinking that this whole thing deserved a deeper dive. Layne’s is totally moving into Cane’s turf, and if an imagined fast food chicken turf war is going to happen, you know we have to write about it.
So we did what any editorial team in our position would do; we assembled a chicken-trying dream team, and decided to test whether the new up-and-comer Layne’s (OK, technically the franchise opened in 1994, two years before Cane’s) could dethrone the old chicken queen, Raising Cane’s. Managing editor
Benji Hardy
joined print editor
Daniel Grear
and visiting editor
Stephanie Smittle
as judges in a blind taste test that covered everything from sauce, fries and Texas toast to the star chicken tenders.
Formerly Blue Hog blogger and award-nominated investigative reporter
Matt Campbell
refused to participate because, “I’m of the belief that no amount of Mormon-coded, overrated ketchup/mayo-based sauce can make up for the myriad ways Cane’s is overrated trash with a bullshit menu and zero reason to exist.”
At noon on Thursday, I raced up to McCain to grab the two four-piece chicken tender meals from the respective contenders before racing back to the office to prepare the judges.
The stakes were high. The results may shock you. McCain Boulevard may never be the same again.
First looks
At lunch time on Thursday, there was a marked difference in the type of traffic Layne’s and Cane’s were receiving. Cane’s had a line of about 40 cars for lunch around 12:30 p.m., plus a packed parking lot that I barely managed to squeeze into. Even with the traffic, the wait was only around 7 minutes, and the employees were plenty friendly amid the chaos.
Despite opening this week, Layne’s had a very small lunch crowd around 1 p.m. when I finally got there. There were just a handful of cars in the drive-thru and a handful of people inside. My wait was around the same and the cashier was very nice until I said I was a journalist writing a story about whether Layne’s is better than Cane’s. She wasn’t unpleasant after that point, I think she just didn’t know how to respond. Layne’s also shorted me on its signature sauce: I asked for three not two!
The edge on customer service? Hard to say. It’s fast food, so it’s not like special treatment is what you’re expecting anyway. The edge on money? Technically Cane’s. According to my receipts, my “4 Finger Meal” at Layne’s cost Publisher
Alan Leveritt
$11.67 plus tax. “The “Box Combo” at Cane’s also came out to exactly $11.67 plus tax, though that price included the extra sauce I ordered to feed the judges. Thanks, Alan!
Now with two identical meals for identical prices from restaurants that are totally not identical, I went back to the office.
Drumroll please… the review
Upon my return, I divided the meals into four plates for the three judges and our new equity reporter
Arielle Robinson
, who showed up just in time to be included in the nonsense.
(Quick note: Robinson was not an official judge because after living in Louisiana for some time, she’s quite familiar with Cane’s. I thought she was just too close to the situation to be unbiased, but she offered some helpful insights nonetheless.)
I can’t say the testing was purely blind, but I did the best I could. Hardy and Smittle didn’t know much about Cane’s at all, but Grear did. I separated the meals onto separate plates for the judges, and the chicken honestly looked so similar, I was struggling to remember which was which. That admission may undermine this entire article, but humor me.
With the judges in place behind their makeshift platters of Cane’s and Layne’s, I had them go for it, ranking the chicken, sauce, fries and toast on a scale of 1 to 10. With three judges, and a maximum of 30 points available per food category, the maximum number of points available in the contest for each chicken joint was 120. And it got surprisingly intellectual as the judges articulated how underwhelmed they were by their competing meals.
They debated how fair it was to rate the fries after they’d been driven to a different location, with Hardy noting it may be dubious to judge fries to-go because the “quality function of fries just like plummets” even half an hour after they are cooked. The other judges concurred, but judged the fries anyway. Cane’s fries were notably droopier, while Layne’s managed to keep their crisp after the drive, so Layne’s had the edge on fries, according to the judges.
They also debated whether or not the Texas toast from each restaurant should be given the same weight as, say, the chicken. After all, no one is going to Cane’s or Layne’s for Texas toast. But I weighed them the same in scoring anyway. Both Texas toasts were underwhelming and “workman-like,” according to Smittle. But Layne’s had a bit more seasoning on the bread, which overall gave it the edge.
The chicken tenders themselves drew most of the judges’ attention. Hardy said he doesn’t often eat chicken tenders, so this was a special treat for him. Cane’s chicken took a slight edge over Layne’s, even though Layne’s had a “wow factor” of a spicy chicken tender option that I guess Cane’s has never thought of offering. They rated Cane’s chicken as the best, with Hardy suggesting the chicken was more “succulent,” followed by Layne’s spicy, and then Layne’s original. The judges did, however, like the breading on Layne’s more, with Smittle comparing the breading favorably to “gas station chicken tenders.” I’m boring myself already.
Grear, a Washington County native, couldn’t help but compare the entire judging experience to his frequent appearances at Slim Chickens, a Fayetteville-based chain that he and Smittle insisted is a far better chicken experience. Cane’s sauce wasn’t thick enough for Grear, but Layne’s sauce was at least a little more tangy. Hardy agreed, saying he likes a sauce to have more flavor.
Smittle said Cane’s signature — and only — sauce was “plain jane,” “the miracle whip version of Slim Chickens cayenne ranch,” and maybe most derogatorily, concluded that “members of my family would have this sauce and say, ‘Oh, it’s got a kick to it!’” Smittle is from Benton County. Notably, Layne’s has many more options than Cane’s, with spicy and regular chicken, along with several sauces beyond their signature Layne’s sauce and more menu items beyond chicken tender baskets.
Layne’s pulled ahead in the signature sauce contest, though the judges noted the sauces were “very, very similar.” Leveritt entered the scene with former Director of Development
Wythe Walker
and new Director of Development
Bob Edwards
after, presumably, a near-daily trip to Copper Grill for lunch, to make fun of us after being told the judges were doing a fast food chicken blind taste test.
“You don’t know what you’re eating? Are you sure it’s chicken?” Leveritt, a new rabbit farmer asked.
“Could be rabbit!” Hardy responded.
Fifteen minutes later, the judges concluded, by a hair, that Layne’s is just kind of better, sort of
.
Layne’s scored a total of 57 points out of 120, while Cane’s scored 50 out of 120. That would give both chicken spots a lackluster reception from the
Arkansas Times
critics.
But notably, the low scores come from the cold reception to the sauce, bread and fries. The chicken tenders themselves received relatively high marks from the judges, and classic Cane’s was voted better on the chicken. For her part, Robinson was impressed with the spicy chicken option from Layne’s. So who won this epic battle between Layne’s and Cane’s for the soul of chicken tender consumers of Central Arkansas? The
Arkansas Times
reader of course, and the friends we made along the way.
Concluding thoughts from the judges?
“I was grateful for the experience,” Smittle said, before gaming out how to make the best fast food chicken plate, which in her opinion would include fries from Smashed N’ Stacked, a biscuit from Popeyes, and chicken from Slim Chickens.
“I think Layne’s will be for people who like both Cane’s and Popeyes,” Smittle said.
“I was honored to be chosen,” Hardy said.
“I just want to say that I think Slim Chickens’ sauce is just, like, a lot better,” Grear said. “Their fries are hit or miss, but the tenders are way better and the sauce is way better.”
Afterwards, I cleaned up and went to Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken down the street for lunch. It was pretty good.
It’s dragon-slaying time!
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