11/13/07 | Albertsons Chicken Dinner
[ Currently Eating: Mabo Tofu ]
In complete contrast to the previous post, I’m going to get right to the point in this review: I Like Fried Chicken. So a few weeks ago, weakened by hunger after grocery shopping at Albertsons near lunchtime (I believe they must purposely make items hard to find so you’ll work up an appetite while shopping and buy some of their deli food), I caved in an purchased their Chicken Dinner Deal.
I would first like to say that Fried Chicken is not exactly good for you - so please, all you nutritionists (and nutritional anthropologists) don’t write in to say how bad all that fat, trans-fat, mega-fat, uber-fat and fuggly-fat is for me. I don’t eat this every day. I would, but my health plan is pretty strict about the “One Fried Chicken Meal Per Quarter” clause. Read it, it’s in the fine print.
Here’s what this dinner contains: 1 whole fried chicken (8 pieces: 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings, 2 breasts), 1 lb of your choice potato salad or macaroni salad, and 4 King’s Hawaiian Sweet Rolls. Total price is $6.99. Sorry, this pic makes the chicken look darker than it actually is.
I’m going to confess that I don’t track the stock index price of FCMDX (Fried Chicken Meal Dinners Index), so I’m not sure what the average big meal goes for at Kentucky Fried Chicken, Popeye’s, Church’s or El Pollo Loco. But I’m pretty sure you could line up a deal similar to or better than the price of the Albertson’s meal. Here’s the thing - it’s convenient. I didn’t have to drive to another place to get it, and since we’re talking fast food here - why not get it at the grocery store where I’m shopping at anyhow?
Actually, my own argument is full of holes - there is an El Pollo Loco in the same plaza as the Albertsons, and KFC and Popeye’s is right down the street. So it’s no trouble. Ah, well. Just another reason I didn’t join the debate team.
The quality of the chicken meal is actually fairly decent. Albertsons, like most other supermarkets nowadays, has a full service deli where you can not only get cold cuts and cheese but also hot meals, prepared deli foods like salads, and other party foods. I’ve bought stuff like sliced pastrami, ham and turkey from them on occasion - it’s not exactly cheap, but it does seem to taste better than buying pre-packaged lunchmeat. Plus, you can control the slice thickness just by asking them.
I hadn’t gotten any prepared foods from the deli until that day. They have several specials with chicken - I believe you can also opt for just a bucket of chicken (i forget the quantity and price) without any sides. I went for the dinner deal.
Starting with the rolls - I like King’s Hawaiian sweet bread so it as great to get 4 of these in a small package in the deal. They’re about the average size of a small roll that you get - but to me they’re tastier. I’ve been eating King’s since I was little. If you haven’t had them, you should try them out. They give it to you pre-packaged. They’re soft rolls, you don’t need to toast them (although it tastes good that way too).
Next, you get a choice of potato salad or macaroni salad. They have both in the deli display case. Ordinarily, I would have gone with the mac salad - but it just looked so “mayo”-ed up and sort of unappetizing. I like both potato salad and macaroni salad with very, very little mayo in it. This is the reason I usually just make my own, but since the meal came with it, I went with the potato salad.
The potato salad was surprisingly good, not too much mustard and not too salty. The potatoes were firm instead of overcooked and the salad was creamy overall. One pound of salad is much more than it looks like. I barely ate 1/5 of the tub. I would get it again, but I still wish they would cut the mayo down.
The fried chicken itself was surprisingly good. Actually, I’m not sure how and when they cook it up. It’s also sitting underneath a heat lamp in the display case - they don’t make it when you order it. I’m hoping that they don’t refill the bin with newer fried chicken on top - because that would mean that the bottom pieces would never get taken over the course of the day. If, they just do refilling, then I wouldn’t ever get chicken at the end of the day since it’d probably mean those pieces were sitting there all day.
The crust of the fried chicken is VERY crunchy, almost more so than KFC. It’s not burnt, but there’s a lot of crust and it’s very thick. It is also VERY salty but very tasty, like many other fried chicken chains. I wish I’d had them side by side to taste - but I have to say that this chicken is very good. I don’t think it has all the secret spices that other places have, but it’s still very good.
They don’t let you choose or substitute different pieces - it doesn’t bother me. I’m an Equal Opportunity Chicken Piece Eater - I’ll take whatever piece is left, white or dark meat (lucky for everybody else in the family). I’ll eat gladly thighs, legs, wings and breasts.
One of my favorite things in the world is to snack on cold fried chicken the day after buying it. I know it tastes great when it’s hot, crunchy and fresh, but to me it’s even better the next day. For that reason, I don’t mind buying a couple of extra pieces at lunchtime if they have a deal on it.
Overall, I think I would get this again. I’d like to go and do some comparison shopping with the other fried chicken chains to see how the price stacks up. I think $6.99 for all that food is pretty good, but probably not the best deal if you’re going to get ONLY chicken. I guess other places would also have a wider variety of sides to choose from too.
Price: $6.99
Found At: Albertsons
Cheap Eats Score: 7/10
November 13th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
That doesn’t look half bad.
November 13th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
I only get my fried chicken from KFC.
And you can’t get a whole fried chicken with sides for just $6.99 at KFC!
November 13th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
There is nothing around here that will beat $6.99 for a whole fried chicken with sides. I’ve always thought the fried chicken at the grocery store looked and smelled good, but I have never tried it. When we get the urge for fried chicken we always go to KFC.
November 13th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
After hearing about KFC’s treatment of baby chicks, I can’t in good conscience, buy from them. Unfortunately, they used to be the best… Maybe Albertson’s is worth a shot.
November 13th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
hmm… ive had fried chicken from grocery stores before, but the meat ended up being too dry (probably from being under the heat lamp all day). not a good experience, but this may have convinced me to give it another go
November 13th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
sir jorge - it tasted pretty good - but I was starving.
gwen, sarah - that’s interesting, I really haven’t kept up with the family size meal prices for chicken. So I didn’t really know if $6.99 was that good. I knew it must be a pretty good price, though.
justin - conscience is a funny thing… I find it sometimes changes for no reason. or depending on who gets nekkid for PETA.
peter - well, the dry meat thing doesn’t bother me as much as other people. But I’ve had chicken from every fast food chicken place that was dry on occasion too.
November 14th, 2007 at 8:35 am
Just wanted to add that Pathmark’s fried chicken is really excellent, too. We tried it when we couldn’t get to a KFC, and found we liked Pathmark’s even better. They have multi-piece deals sometimes, without the sides. But since there’s only DH and me, I often just get two breasts for $1.79 each. We always have plenty of cheap sides at home anyway.
November 14th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
I’ve had the Albertson’s chicken and it’s not bad. Not quite KFC quality, or Popeye’s (which is a short walk for me - yay) for that matter, but not bad. And King’s Hawaiian Sweet Rolls- those suckers are addictive- try making some mini-burgers and putting them on a few rolls- great with slaw on the side!
November 16th, 2007 at 10:45 am
El Pollo Loco is flame broiled, Mexican-citrus marinated chicken not fried. *S* Or at least it was in Arizona where I used to livve before moving to Illinois.
November 16th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
EC - I never heard of Pathmark… is that a grocery chain?
Captainfirst - Yeah, I think it is a little better than avg… nice idea with the mini-burgers
angela - I know EPC isn’t fried. I just had it for comparison. I actually goto EPC quite a bit… there are many near me.
November 16th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
This looks delicious, besides the potato salad. because I don’t eat mayonaise. but I love fried chicken, and hawaiian bread. mmm. yum. and that is a good deal. a really good deal.
November 17th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Winco has a similar deal for around the same price. If you get there before the chicken has waited forever under those heat lamps, it’s quite tasty.
El Pollo Loco is good as long as they don’t try to reuse old beans, leave the corn sitting around in hot water all day, and skimp on the quailty and size of the chicken parts they use. Which is what my local Loco used to do. Which is why I don’t eat there anymore.
Supermarket rotisserie chickens are also good.
November 18th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
I second the supermarket rotisserie chickens! The best are actually at Costco . . . people fight to get them at the one near me
I will get a small chicken on Sunday night when I do my grocery shopping . . . and cut it into fourths. I’ll eat one for dinner . . . save one for another dinner that week and then take the other two portions and chop them up . . one goes in chicken salad and one for a sandwich. usually ends up being about 4.99 for the chicken . . so four meals!
November 18th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
rose - my mayo tolerance is gradually increasing… i dunno if that is a good thing =)
mara - Winco, is that another supermarket chain? I haven’t heard of them..
kyle - oh yeah, even though this is about the fried chicken, I’ll third the Costco rotisserie chicken. Sometimes the supermarket ones are a little too salty or mushy. I like buying it for lunch, and then for dinner the next day we’ll make chicken green enchiladas. Excellent deal…
November 19th, 2007 at 12:51 am
My husband got a two-piece meal at KFC today for $5.30. One breast, one wing, a scoop of mashed potatoes, some green beans, and a biscuit. I think you got a good deal!
November 19th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Hmm, excellent. No Alberston’s here in NYC that I know of, but there are Pathmark’s but unfortunately in all the bad ‘hoods. Ah well.
PS To the rotisserie chicken people, also, save the bones/frame to make stock. For REALLY cheap eats, save the chicken frames and the odds and ends while chopping veggies (carrot tops/tips, celery leaves, onion skins, everything) and use that for your stock as well.
November 19th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
The 8 piece chicken at Kroger is not fried in transfat . $ 4.95 on sale or $ 5.95 reg. No sides but they have Reg. or spicy . Come around noon and it is fresh . Wal Mart is a bit less …but its not as good. Wally World puts the time on the bag and its hard to get any thats cooked within an hour . Krogers chicken is very good .
November 20th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Albertson’s chicken is delicious, to be sure, but I’ve got to warn you - more than once, I have had a sour stomach after eating this meal. I don’t what the rotation policy is for the chicken, but I normally am a very robust guy and don’t get queasy without a reason, and it would generally happen 1 out of 10 times of getting the fried chicken.
Then again, I suppose those are acceptable odds to some.
I would strongly recommend the chicken at a Wal-Mart Supercenter. I know it’s blasphemy, but the chicken is always fresh and better than most restaurants (ditto for their take it home and heat it up yourself pizza)!
December 2nd, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Winco is a chain on the west coast, but not is SoCal.
Wyoming
Idaho
Nevada
California
Oregon
Adam, I purchased a chicken from Wal-Mart Supercenter once before because I was desperate–it tasted like jerky. Safeway chicken is the tastiest to me.
December 11th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Hi! Here in SC, you can get just the chicken from Piggly Wiggly 8 for $6. You can ask for certain pieces for just a couple cents more, I think. We tend to call ahead for “fresh” chicken, and they don’t charge extra! =D
March 25th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
New to web site so comment is a bit late, but I must say that I agree that this chicken is not bad at all. I must say that to me it is much better tasting than Von’s or Stater Bros fried chicken.
Hubby, two adult (male) children and I went to visit Grandma and Grandpa, stopped at Albertsons to grab lunch which consisted of two chicken dinner deals, 12 oz package frozen store brand mixed vegetables, 1 liter soda, 12 pack beer, extra package of rolls and lemon cake, all for under $50.
Where in SoCal can one go to feed six adults a pretty good meal plus drinks? And there was left-over chicken to boot!