It’s National Sandwich Day and foodies across the country will travel to their nearest eatery (or kitchen!) to indulge in subs, heroes, and hoagies (depending on what city you live in!) As tempting as it might be to visit a major chain restaurant like Subway, Jimmy John’s, or Potbelly, consider supporting your neighborhood sandwich shop. Whether your go-to sandwich is a BLT, breakfast, cheesesteak, club, cold cut, Cuban, deli, egg salad, falafel, gyro, lobster roll, melt, Monte Cristo, open-faced, po’ boy, or Reuben, there’s guaranteed to be a mom-and-pop restaurant ready to serve you.
In the ‘90s, I couldn’t get enough of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on potato bread, grilled cheese sandwiches on sourdough bread, or Sloppy Joes on a hamburger bun (The film, “It Takes Two,” with Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen is responsible for that last obsession lol). Although one of my favorite practices on Black Friday is eating an appetizing plate of food from the night before, my LEAST favorite sandwich is the Pilgrim (which is all of the Thanksgiving leftovers combined on two pieces of bread lol). While some devourers love the Pilgrim, it’s not my style!
Today, there’s no sandwich more irresistible to me than a chicken sandwich. No matter if it’s grilled or fried, if the piece of chicken that sits on the soft bun is moist and savory, it’s a winner in my book. Until my recent visit to Roaming Rooster in Washington, DC, the Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich held the crown for the best fried chicken sandwich.
I know what you’re thinking, what about the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich??? I have no beef with Popeyes or their sandwich. In fact, I have great love for Popeyes! At age 16, Popeyes granted me my second job at the Plymouth Meeting Mall in the suburbs of Philly. After working at the company for a year (before leaving for college), I knew Popeyes like the back of my hand. From ringing up customers and suggesting biscuits as an add-on to every meal, to scrubbing chicken trays at the end of the night, you name it – I did it lol.
As a former employee of two fast-food chains (my first job was Burger King at age 15), I understand how difficult and stressful the job can be. Despite the daily shenanigans and aroma of fried chicken lingering in my hair for hours lol, I remained a dedicated Popeyes employee, extending fantastic customer service with a smile (just a gentle reminder to be nice to your local fast-food worker and hopefully, they return the favor!)
Fortunately, I have NO Popeyes horror stories. My location was clean, the chicken was fresh, and I enjoyed eating the menu items on every lunch break. However, I identify with the phrase: too much of a good thing. I had way too much Popeyes chicken! Personally, I have not eaten at Popeyes in nearly 15 years, and I have no desire to. Hence, I have not tried the famous Popeyes Chicken Sandwich. While I’m all Popeyes chickened out lol, the Louisiana kitchen will always hold a special place in my heart.
After almost 10 weeks of sold-out sandwiches, Popeyes will finally bring their New Orleans-style fried chicken sandwich back to their restaurants today. When Popeyes first introduced their chicken sandwich on August 12, 2019, which started a social-media frenzy and fast-food chain war, I started researching an alternative. Thankfully, Black Foodie published a list of 50+ black-owned restaurants across the country to get a fried chicken sandwich.
Considering black chefs perfected fried chicken, it’s only right to visit a black-owned business for a fried chicken sandwich! Feel free to find your local black-owned restaurant from NY to California here: http://blackfoodie.co/50-black-owned-restaurants-where-you-can-get-a-fried-chicken-sandwich-instead. From this list, I found Washington, DC eateries, discovering Roaming Rooster. This restaurant is more than deserving of Blooming Black Foodie’s first restaurant spotlight.