Every Popeye's Side Dish, Ranked Worst To Best

Is there anything that Popeye's makes that isn't good? This is a serious question that I've asked myself, as I've liked pretty much everything from the fast-food chicken chain that I've tried. It makes a phenomenal chicken wrap and has my absolute favorite chicken sandwich of all time. While some of its sauces leave something to be desired, everything else is good enough that I'm willing to overlook it. It may have only reached fourth on our ranking of chicken chains, but it will always be my personal favorite.

While we all go to our favorite fast food restaurants for the main event — the burgers, the sandwiches, the chicken, and so on — you cannot sleep on the sides. Whether it's Sonic's tator tots or Arby's curly fries, a good side can make or break a meal. So, seeing as Popeye's is a popular chain, we set out to try its sides and rank them. At first, I thought this would be relatively easy, but boy, was I wrong.

Popeye's has six sides on its menu, many of which are quintessential Southern sides — homestyle mac and cheese, biscuits, mashed potatoes and gravy, red beans and rice, and coleslaw. They also have fries, because what fast-food joint would be complete without them? Let me tell you, after this taste test, I can say with full confidence, there are no bad sides at Popeye's. But some of them stood out more than others, which was made evident in this ranking.

In my opinion, you can't really go wrong with a good buttermilk biscuit. You want something tender and flaky, with a warmth that reminds you of your grandmother's hugs. They are a staple at Southern tables, whether for breakfast or as part of the evening meal. Being a chicken joint started in Louisiana, it's not a surprise to find biscuits at Popeye's. I had high expectations — even for a fast food place — and I wasn't disappointed.

It was served nice and warm, and when I opened it, it was soft and spongy. It had the perfect amount of flakiness and easily came apart. I'm not sure if they're made fresh or frozen, but I simply didn't care. The first bite took me back to childhood when my grandmother would make a full Southern breakfast on Saturday mornings. She often made buttermilk biscuits — sometimes from scratch and sometimes from a can — to go with her gravy. This biscuit was just as good as hers.

Popeye's biscuits had a nice, smooth butteriness. It wasn't hard or stale, and honestly, it didn't need anything extra like butter or honey. It had the right consistency for sopping up gravy, which made it taste even better. You could likely pair them with anything, including caviar, as David Chang has tried. As I mentioned, it was delicious, and I would definitely order the biscuit again. The only reason it's at the bottom of the ranking is that everything else was that much better.

Being from the South, coleslaw is a must-have at every gathering, especially if you're hosting a barbecue. To be honest, it's not my favorite side, but if you put it in front of me, I'll still eat it. Most coleslaws I've had leaned too far on the sweet side, but I was cautiously optimistic. Popeye's coleslaw is made of carrots and cabbage, and the dressing has soybean oil, sugar, dill relish (diced pickles, water, salt, and vinegar), plus water, egg yolks, and more vinegar. Pretty standard ingredients for any coleslaw.

And Popeye's had a pretty solid coleslaw. It was fresh and crispy, so I assumed it had been made that day or not too long ago. The cabbage and carrot still had a good crunch to them that I enjoyed, and the dressing wasn't super watery or runny. It also had a tangy zestiness to it that I liked, keeping it balanced and not too sweet. There wasn't so much sugar that it was overwhelming, and you got a good kick of salt and pepper in there as well.

Overall, I liked the coleslaw and would probably order it again. However, when up against some of the other sides, it wasn't as good, which is why it's ranked second last. I will say that if you're a fan of coleslaw, I would recommend it.

And now we're getting into "almost too hard to choose" territory. Basically, the rest of the sides from here on out were delicious. But this is a ranking, so I did my best to be objective. I think it's safe to say that most people like a good, creamy bowl of mac and cheese that oozes cheese, and Popeye's didn't disappoint. It's made with real butter and cream with shredded cheese on top, then baked until golden brown.

I had heard positive things about Popeye's mac and cheese, and it lived up to the hype. At first look, it didn't have a weird, almost artificial yellow look to it that some mac and cheeses do. It had a lighter hue (except for the shredded cheese), and it was super thick and creamy. The shredded cheese was fully melted into the dish without any oil separation, which was a pleasant surprise. The first bite just melted in my mouth.

It was way better than any kind of mac and cheese that I have ever attempted to make at home, and I nearly ate the whole thing before remembering I had other sides to test. It was so smooth. The only thing that I would possibly change is putting a little more shredded cheese to make it extra cheesy, though you could upgrade your mac a number of different ways. I personally believe you can never have too much cheese, and others may not feel the same.

While I enjoy a good serving of mashed potatoes and gravy, I honestly never thought about getting them from a fast food chain. It's more of a nice, sit-down meal to me, but mashed potatoes with Cajun gravy had me a bit excited. According to the menu, the gravy is made with margarine, smoked pork tasso, chicken and turkey stock, beef base, turkey base, spices, garlic, and more. The potatoes, on the other hand, are blended with a butter concoction, among other things.

If you can see chunks of meat in the gravy, you know it's going to be good. At Popeye's, its Cajun gravy was brown and had the right consistency. It easily spread around to cover all of the mashed potatoes, but wasn't watery or too thin. You could also smell the spices before you tasted it. The cooks at Popeye's definitely knew how to avoid all the common mistakes people make with the side.

And it turned out to be an explosion of flavor. The potatoes were buttery smooth and well blended with no chunks. At first, the gravy tasted much like any other brown gravy, but then the spices rolled in, giving it a bit of an extra kick. You could feel the warmth all the way down your throat as you swallowed. Perfectly smooth, interesting, and oh so good. I had it at the top of my list for a while — until I tasted the following sides, that is.

I really don't understand why more fast-food restaurants don't adopt seasoned fries, and boy, does Popeye's like to season its fries. The Cajun fries include salt, spices, dried garlic, dried Worcestershire sauce, sugar, garlic powder, and more. It might also help that Popeye's uses beef tallow in the fryer, which definitely provides a richer flavor. Either way, these fries leave every competitor in the dust, even Arby's, which, up until I tried my first Cajun fry, had been my absolute favorite.

Every single bite was bursting with flavor without being overwhelming. There was a nice, warm burn to them. I got them piping hot and fresh out of the fryer at the restaurant, which was just how you want your fries (of course, I snuck a few during the car ride home). They were still good hours later, even after they had cooled off, which is a testament to a good fry, in my opinion.

They were crunchy on the outside and nice and tender on the inside. Even when they cooled off, they never got soggy. A few seconds in the microwave, and the fries were right back to being hot and tasty. There was no need for any dipping sauce — the flavor was strong enough all on its own. The Cajun fries go great with just about anything on the Popeye's menu, but there was one side that was simply better.

Finally, we reach my top pick for best side at Popeye's. And I won't lie, I was a bit surprised that the red beans and rice took it all, but that's mostly because I've never been a big fan of beans — they tend to fill me up too quickly. I'm sure my mother and grandmother are rolling in their graves, since we always had beans as a side.

Popeye's rice was seasoned with salt, spices, dried onion, and dried garlic. I mixed it all together before digging in, and let me tell you, this side changed my perspective. The beans were perfectly cooked — nice and tender. Neither the beans nor the rice overwhelmed each other. And overall, the side wasn't super heavy even though — to me, at least — both beans and rice tend to be pretty heavy and filling on their own.

The flavor was what sealed the deal. There were small chunks of meat that added a nice flavor and blended well with all the seasoning. It had a nice kick to it that came in a bit later, but wasn't what I would call hot or spicy — more of a simmering warmth, like other sides on this list. Thanks to this review, red beans and rice are my new go-to side when I stop by Popeye's.

As I've already stated, this was a difficult ranking to make because everything tasted so good. It was also a bit tricky trying to set up parameters for the taste test since I was comparing different kinds of food that had different standards for what is considered good.

I started by looking at how each side compared within its own group. Whether it was good on its own, without comparing it to the other sides. For example, were the fries good fries in general? Were they crispy or soggy, and so on. Was the biscuit a solid biscuit I would go back to? Did this side meet standards for being a good mac and cheese? I looked at the flavor and texture of each side and if it fell within a range of what you would typically expect for that dish.

From there, I had to compare them to each other. I tried to keep an open mind — which worked, because at the beginning of the taste test, I would have never expected to put beans and rice at the top. I looked at whether I would want to order that side over the others and how well it would go with other items on Popeye's menu. The question I focused on: Could I order this side with anything? Also, was the side good enough to stand on its own? Ultimately, that was what determined which sides came out on top.