Chili’s Is Playing With Tradition With Its New Sandwich

Earlier this year, Chili’s decided it was time to flex. It waded into the chicken sandwich wars, deftly and with much bravado, with the launch of its Big Crispy sandwiches, bringing six new options to the table. Given that the so-called chicken sandwich wars have been raging since roughly 2019, when Popeyes brought its chicken sandwich to the table (prompting virtually every other chain in the US to reconsider their fried chicken output), the move begged the question of whether Chili’s was acting too late. Had the moment moved on? Had the shark been jumped over?

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Nope. If anything, the people wanted more. And so the restaurant’s giving it to them. It’s just launched another new chicken sandwich, and it’s having a lot of fun with it. 

Chili’s New Chicken Parm Big Crispy

This week, Chili’s announced that it was releasing its new Chicken Parm Big Crispy, which is a hefty affair, to say the least. Each sandwich starts with a Big Crispy chicken patty and is then topped with a block of Chili’s Fried Mozzarella and a smothering of marinara sauce. The sandwich is then served with fried, white cheddar mac and cheese, and marinara and house-made ranch on the side. It’s big, it’s hearty; you might just need an antacid afterward. 

Chili’s is also acknowledging the chicken parm’s provenance with this release, and doing so in a fun lil’ way. “Chicken Parm isn’t actually Italian, and neither is Chili’s. But Florence, Rome and Venice sound pretty Italian,” it says in its press release. As such, the restaurant is first releasing the Chicken Parm Big Crispy in Florence, Kentucky, Rome, Georgia, and Venice, Florida, where it’s now exclusively available. It’ll release nationwide on October 20. 

A Victory Lap

As Chili’s notes in its press release, the release of its Chicken Parm Big Crispy follows a huge sales spike for the restaurant, in which it saw a 175% increase in chicken sandwich orders following its Big Crispy lineup debut. In a sense, the Chicken Parm Big Crispy is kind of a celebration of its success, one in which Chili’s is going big. Generally speaking, too, the Big Crispy sandwich lineup has been a hit with customers, and the fact that they’ve been so affordable hasn’t hurt one bit. Grab the Chicken Parm Big Crispy while it’s hot, folks, and order your Margarita of the Month while you’re at it. It’s all going down.