A sweet tasting bun that matched a meaty portion of chicken. Crunchy thick-sliced pickles. A good size fried chicken breast with crunchy pieces.

Top it off with a slather of a well-balanced spicy mayo that doesn’t overpower and you’re tasting Popeyes' new chicken sandwich that has been the talk of the country.

But is it worth the hype?

Call us curious. We had to take a bite into the sandwiches for ourselves.

We wanted to know how a fried chicken sandwich spurred a Twitter war, a lawsuit, made an angry customer draw a gun at a Houston Popeyes, according to CNN, when the customer couldn’t get the sandwich and created lines at Popeyes locations across the country. And at some locations, they limited the number of sandwiches you could buy with each order.

Popeyes' new sandwich debuted in mid-August and quickly fueled a social media storm.

Clearly, Popeyes' new chicken sandwich offering is meant to compete with Chick-fil-A's signature sandwich. Chick-fil-A responded with its own tweets touting its chicken sandwiches.

Once the storm brewed, Popeyes quickly ran out of sandwiches. Now, it appears, some locations are becoming stocked again. But as of last Wednesday, a sign was taped to the door of the Popeyes on Woodward in Highland Park saying it was out of chicken sandwiches.

We pitted both the classic and spicy Popeyes chicken sandwich against nearly the same versions from Chick-fil-A and Wendy’s. We included Wendy’s after several staffers mentioned being fans of its chicken sandwiches.

And now, drum roll, please.

It was the sum of all those parts and pieces of Popeyes' new — and hard to come by — spicy chicken sandwich that Free Press taste testers declared as a winner.

But we must add: Popeyes' spicy chicken just barely eked out the win.

Chick-fil-A was very, very close. Out of the four taste testers, three deemed Popeyes spicy chicken the winner. The fourth chose Chick-fil-A because it came without mayonnaise. Wendy's wasn't even in the running.

Nutrition-wise, nearly all the sandwiches' fat and sodium counts were high. But fat-wise, Popeyes has 42 grams — nearly twice the amount of all others — and the highest amount of saturated fat at 14 grams. But it is, after all, a fried chicken sandwich.

On the sodium counts, Wendy's spicy chicken is the lowest at 990 milligrams and Chick-fil-A spicy is the highest at 1,620 milligrams. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends adults consume no more than 2,300 milligrams a day. Ideally, the AHA would like to adults to limit to no more than 1,500 milligrams per day.

Staff judges

Tresa Baldas: Covers federal courts.

Kirkland Crawford: Deputy sports editor.

Georgea Kovanis: Writes about the opioid epidemic.

Susan Selasky: Food writer/Woodward 248 reporter.

Here is a summary of the judges findings:

Overall winner: Popeyes Spicy Chicken Sandwich

Menu description from popeyes.com: A tender all-white meat chicken breast fillet, marinated in an authentic blend of Louisiana seasonings, then hand-battered and breaded in our all new buttermilk coating. Served with crisp barrel cured pickles and classic or spicy Mayonnaise, served on a warm and toasted buttery brioche bun.

Nutrition:

Calories Total Fat Saturated Fat Sodium

700 42 grams 14 grams 1,473 milligrams

Price: $3.99

Judges comments: Attractive and inviting looking, well-made sandwich. Good size, thick chicken breast nestled in the brioche bun. The chicken was flavorful and juicy with the right kick. Everything was fresh looking and the way the sandwich was wrapped, made it look upscale.

Popeyes Classic Chicken Sandwich

Menu description from popeyes.com: A tender all-white meat chicken breast fillet, marinated in an authentic blend of Louisiana seasonings, then hand-battered and breaded in our all new buttermilk coating. Served with crisp barrel cured pickles and classic or spicy Mayonnaise, served on a warm and toasted buttery brioche bun.

699 42 grams 14 grams 1,443 milligrams

Price: $3.99

Judges comments: Good size piece of chicken breast. Great flavor and a big "yay" to the crunchy pickles as well as the sandwich not being greasy. It was as expected and the mayo was just enough.

Chick-Fil-A Classic Chicken Sandwich

Menu description atchick-fil-a.com: A boneless breast of chicken seasoned to perfection, hand-breaded, pressure-cooked in 100% refined peanut oil and served on a toasted, buttered bun with dill pickle chips.

440 19 grams 4 grams 1,350 milligrams

Price: $4.09

Judges comments: The chicken is really good and juicy. Though one judge deemed it nothing outstanding and another called it "no frills" and not particularly crispy. The chicken was bland and the sandwich was not well put together.

Chick-Fil-A Spicy Chicken Sandwich

Menu description from chick-fil-a.com: A boneless breast of chicken seasoned with a spicy blend of peppers, hand-breaded, pressure cooked in 100% refined peanut oil and served on a toasted, buttered bun with dill pickle chips. Gluten-free bun or multigrain bun also available at an additional cost.

450 19 grams 4 grams 1,620 milligrams

Price: $4.39

Judges comments: This fell flat a bit in looks, but judges said this isn't a beauty contest. Very juicy and the chicken is the star with this one, but on the salty side. It packed enough of a spicy punch that one judge said there was no need for mayo. The pickles were flimsy and no big deal.

Wendy’s Homestyle Chicken Sandwich

Menu description from wendys.com: A juicy, lightly-breaded chicken breast, crisp lettuce and tomato, and just enough mayo, all on a toasted bun. It’s extra comfy comfort food.

500 22 grams 4 grams 1,020 milligrams

Price: $5.09

Judges' comments: This sandwich got very low marks. It was bland, messy and tasted institutional. Taste like any other fried chicken sandwich. The chicken sandwich game has been raised and Wendy's needs to catch up.

Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich

Menu description from wendys.com: A juicy chicken breast marinated and breaded in our unique, fiery blend of peppers and spices to deliver more flavor inside and out, cooled down with crisp lettuce, tomato, and mayo.

500 19 grams 3.5 grams 990 milligrams

Price: $5.09

Judges' comments: This was spicy enough and tasted better than Wendy's homestyle. But it still fell way short of the sandwiches from Chick-fil-A and Popeyes. The flavor was OK for a fast-food chicken sandwich, but was nothing special.

Contact Susan Selasky: 313-222-6872 or sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter.