Chick-Fil-A has introduced a new seasonal item to their menu to welcome the fall season. Alongside the Caramel Crumble milkshake, the Honey Pepper Pimento sandwich will be available at Chick-Fil-As nationwide starting on August 28 until November 11.
The sandwich boasts a $6.75 price tag and what the Atlanta based chain calls a “sweet and spicy flavor profile”. It is the first Chick-Fil-A limited menu item to reinvent the original chicken sandwich after a lengthy history of seasonal milkshakes and desserts. The meal itself features a standard chicken filet and bun, topped with pickled jalapeños, drizzles of warm honey, and Chick-Fil-A’s custom-made pimento cheese spread.
In my tastings of the Honey Pepper Pimento sandwich, I found it to be a delicious endeavor for the adventurous eater.
The initial bites of the sandwich are rather sweet; the honey was the first thing to overcome the palette, and it sets a decadent pretense followed by the rest of the ingredients. The pickled jalapeños were negligible at first, and I feared their place in the sandwich would go unnoticed. However, as I ate, I noticed the subtle acidity of the pickling and the bite of the pepper underlining the sugar present in the honey. This combination not only tasted great, but introduced a rich balance between the seemingly combative flavors of the sandwich.
Chick-Fil-A’s star of the show, the pimento cheese, is by far the loudest piece of the sandwich. The cheese tastes a tad grainier than a standard pimento spread, and the bitterness of the sharp cheddar has a unique, yet satisfying bite. However, the cheese also acts as a limiting factor, as it doesn’t taste far different from any store-bought pimento I’ve enjoyed in the past. This was slightly disappointing, as Chick-Fil-A gloated the spread as the leading flavor of the meal.
Though the isolated ingredients don’t present a uniquely luscious flavor, the synchronicity of the Honey Pepper Pimento sandwich is what makes it stand out as, in my humble opinion, the best item on the current Chick-Fil-A menu. Every ingredient feels hand-picked to perfectly counter-act, balance, and accompany the others, somehow all at the same time. It’s been on my current CFA rotation since its release, and I don’t see that changing any time soon (at least until November 11th).
