Founded in Louisiana, Popeye’s recently introduced a fried chicken sandwich to compete with the popular Georgia based Chick-fil-A sandwich, causing a new kind of war between the states. Southerners, who are very picky about their fried chicken, flew into a frenzy of evaluation, competitiveness and battle we don’t usually see outside of the Sugar Bowl.

I decided to get samples from each restaurant, take them home and do a taste test with my husband so we could make our own educated decision. The Popeye’s and Chick-fil-A near me are almost across the street from each other, so I first went through the Fibonacci spiral of Chick-fil-A’s drive-thru. (I know it’s environmentally friendlier to park and go inside, but this time, I considered it part of the overall process of evaluation. Next time I promise I’ll park and walk). By necessity, Chick-fil-A has become the #1 traffic control expert in the country and is thankfully in talks to soon manage the parking lot at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport.

My least favorite part of the process followed when they insisted on knowing my name. Why do they need to become my friend before they give me a sandwich? “We just want to make it a personal experience,” they’ll tell you. If I wanted a personal experience, I’d place a side order for a neck massage with the waffle fries. “It helps us get the order right.” Didn’t you get the order right for 25 years without knowing my name? Everyone else loves the friendliness, but disingenuous forced kindness make me grumpy. I just want a frosty lemonade without going through sorority rush.

Then, I drove across the street to Popeye’s and got in line behind about 8 other cars. The line moved at a steady pace and when I got to the microphone, a nice voice said, “Hey honey, what can I get’cha?” She somehow knew I was a “honey” without crossing the line and wanting to know my blood type. At the window, a teenager handed me a bag of food and said, “thanks ma’am. Have a nice day.” I was free to go with no lingering personal attachments.

I sent my husband a text that said, “Hurry home. We’re trying different chicken sandwiches tonight.” He responded a few minutes later with a confused, “What do you mean by chicken sandwiches?” Sometimes we just can’t communicate.

Our evaluation was purely subjective, but I can tell you, eating both Chick-fil-A and Popeye’s chicken in the same day is a Southern culinary overload everyone should try once in their lives. We almost started channeling Scarlett and Rhett. My Northern born husband started dropping his “g’s” and whistling Dixie. We finally decided that although Popeye’s sandwich tasted fine, we’d rather just stick with the chicken legs they’re known for. We also love their red beans and rice side dish, but for us, Chick-fil-A is still King of the Sandwich. That buttery bun and little pickle just pushed them over the top. It doesn’t have too much batter to crumble everywhere and the spices are just right. It’s worth the long line, and even worth the happy chit-chat. Now I can move on to the important issue of evaluating all the new macaroni and cheese dishes, which of course, everyone around here knows is a vegetable.

Leslie Anne is the author of “The Majorettes are Back in Town and Other Things to Love about the South”. You can read more at her blog: http://leslieannetarabella.com