Taco Bell is merging a sandwich with a taco in its bid to join the Chicken Sandwich Wars.
The Mexican fast-food chain said on Monday it plans to start testing the “Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco” at locations in Nashville and Charlotte beginning next month.
The sandwich, or taco, will feature white meat chicken marinated in jalapeno buttermilk and then seasoned with Mexican spices and rolled in tortilla chip coating. It will then be wrapped taco-like in puffy bread and featuring a chipotle sauce. There is a spicy version with sliced jalapeno slices.
The sandwich will be available for a limited time in those two cities starting March 11 for $2.49. The company is planning a national debut later this year.
Taco Bell has certainly pushed the envelope on chicken before—notably the Naked Chicken Chalupa in 2017 that featured a chalupa with a fried chicken shell.
In this instance, the chain is jumping into a competition that features the biggest restaurant chains in the U.S., vying for a consumer that is apparently eager to consume a lot more chicken sandwiches. Taco Bell’s sister company KFC is debuting its own upgraded chicken sandwich, and McDonald’s has already started selling its Crispy Chicken Sandwich in many locations—though that debut is set for this week. Burger King, Wendy’s and others are also upgrading or have upgraded their sandwiches, to compete more with Chick-fil-A and Popeyes.
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