What is the best fast food fish sandwich? We have ranked the top 5.

| February 29, 2024 | Fast Food | No Comments

Every year around this time, fish sandwiches begin appearing on fast-food menus across the country, as if summoned by the prayers of the faithful.

This massive catch of fried fish is of course intended largely to satisfy the cravings of Catholics who, before 1966, abstained from eating red meat. each Friday, not just those of Lent. In suburban Cincinnati, where Roman Catholics once dominated the area, restaurateurs like Louis Groen were doomed if they tried to rely on hamburger sales, and in the early 1960s Groen tried to rely on hamburger sales. He was a McDonald’s franchisee, before the chain became a household name. He was getting killed on Fridays by the local Big Boy restaurants, which had a fish sandwich on the menu.

So, Groen began working with the McDonald’s corporate team to develop the Filet-O-Fish sandwich, even though owner Ray Kroc was completely resistant to the idea. “Surely not!” Kroc apparently told Groen, according to “Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s,” Kroc’s 1977 book. “I don’t care if the Pope himself comes to Cincinnati. He can eat hamburgers like everyone else. We’re not going to stink up our restaurants with your damn old fish.

Kroc was betting – literally – on a creation he called the Hulaburger. It was two slices of cheese with a slice of grilled pineapple, nestled in a toasted bun. Kroc loved to have one for lunch. He made a bet with Groen: The company would sell both the Filet-O-Fish and the Hulaburger on a Friday. The best-selling sandwich would earn a spot on the permanent menu. It was a landslide. Hulaburgers: 6; Filet-O-Fish: 350.

“We started selling it only on Fridays in limited areas, but we received so many requests that in 1965 we made it available daily in all our stores, billing it as “the fish that catches people,'” Kroc wrote in “Crushing It.

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Nearly 60 years later, every major fast food chain offers a fish sandwich during Lent, if they don’t already sell one year-round. The variations between each are small but significant. They all rely on flaky white fish — Alaska pollock is the species of choice for many chains — which essentially provides a blank canvas for the tartar sauce, seasoned coating, toppings and bun. There’s a surprising amount of individuation to be conjured from this handful of ingredients.

Is tartar sauce sweet or spicy? Is the chain doubling down on acid by including pickles in the sandwich? Is the bread brioche or potato? Is the coating thick or thin? Spicy or simply seasoned? Does it include a slice of cheese – or half a slice of cheese like the one found on the Filet-O-Fish (which is not an accident, by the way, but a deliberate choice as written Kroc in his book)?

In other words, this seasonal wave of sandwiches is meticulously designed and marketed to meet the needs of diners during Lent. All this fish frying is an answered prayer not from God but from corporate America.

For the ranking below, I tried 10 fish sandwiches at six national chains. You’ll notice that the sandwich that started it all didn’t pan out: The Filet-O-Fish I tried was fatty, breaded and, oddly enough, chewy. His fish was muddy and, even worse, it was covered in tartar sauce. It was the kind of dull bite that makes you think: Bring on the Hulaburger!

5. Arby’s Crispy Fish Sandwich

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The coating on this sandwich is thick, offering both crunch and a modest amount of chewiness, as if Arby’s slipped mochi rice paste into the dough. The chain relies on pollock, as many do, because the species is cheap, abundant and available in the wild, allowing operators to market their fish as “wild-caught.” The sweet pollock is topped with a sweet tartar sauce, no doubt thanks to its generous application of high-fructose corn syrup. Nestled in a sesame seed bun that holds its shape better than its soft brioche bun competitors, the filet comes with plenty of râpé, that nifty portmanteau for shredded lettuce. The sandwich seems a bit more processed than its peers. But that works too. I devoured the thing.

$5.49 per sandwich, but prices vary by location.

4. Bojangles’ Bojangler Fish Sandwich

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The tips of my fried triangle of Alaska pollock protruded from both ends of its toasted bun, as if Giannis Antetokounmpo was trying to squeeze into a child’s futon for the night. The presentation had the desired effect: signaling a kind of generosity that cannot be contained in a single bun. The filet arrived hot and fresh, showing no signs of oil even though it had clearly been removed from the fryer seconds earlier. The sandwich is simple: just a fried filet, a slice of American cheese, tartar sauce and a bun. But the elements are in harmony. The heat of the fish against the creamy freshness of the tartare; the black pepper spiciness of the paste against the sweetness of the sauce; the softness of the bread against the crackling of the fillet. A great example of the fast food profession.

$5.49 per sandwich, but prices vary by location.

3. Wendy’s Crispy Panko Fish Sandwich

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Wendy’s wins the sandwich naming contest with its seasonal fish offering. If the Bojangler conjures up images of horror movie serial killers, the Crispy Panko Fish Sandwich does the opposite: it suggests a chef who worked for days to create a coating that amplifies the crunch that attracts many between us towards fried foods in the first place. True to form, this sandwich crackles under your teeth, until the very last bite. The crunch is a pleasure in its own right. The filet itself is made from “wild Alaskan pollock” – Wendy’s is quick to point out the sustainability of this fishery – and accompanied by tartar sauce, pickles, American cheese and a single leaf of romaine. Tartar sauce is not afraid of acidity, it does what it is supposed to do: contain the fishiness of the fillet while highlighting its sweet oceanic flavors.

$6.16 per sandwich, but prices vary by location.

2. Burger King’s Big Fiery Fish

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The King decided to do his best to impress Popeyes this Lent by introducing the Fiery Big Fish, a spicy take on his usual seafood sandwich. Which means that BK, like Popeyes, now offers its customers two ways to get fish: one with heat, one without. The beginner is the superior offering. Burger King slathers a triple pepper glaze on both sides of its Alaska pollock fillet. The glaze is sort of like hot pepper jelly, and as such its heat is more creeper than palate crusher. You might be lulled by the sweet tartar sauce or the crunch of the panko-crusted filet or even the soft potato bun. But then, out of nowhere, the chili peppers will surprise you and deliver a solid uppercut to the kisser. The Fiery Big Fish may be an instant fast food classic.

$3.99 per sandwich, but prices vary by location.

1. Popeyes Classic Flounder Sandwich

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Let me get this out of the way: the spicy version of the Flounder Fish Sandwich is a real killer. Too much, in fact, for the generally mild nature of white fish. The sauce is much better suited to Popeyes’ chicken sandwich, the one that launched 1,000 imitators. But the standard flounder sandwich may be fast food perfection. The breading that buries the flounder is thick and crackly — and spicy enough to provide the targeted hot pepper punch that each piece of flaky white fish just demands. Flounder also stands out from its competitors: When you remove the breading from the fish, you’ll find intact fillets, not just random clumps of fish. Its flavor is also more pronounced: flounder has a distinct brine, which better stands up to the richness of the brioche bread and the acidity of the pickles and tartar sauce. Everything comes together with this sandwich. Now how do we persuade Popeyes to keep it on the menu full time?

$5.99 per sandwich, but prices vary by location.

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