Chicken Prices: Six Dishes Within $1.50
The six chicken specialties run $13.49 to $14.99 — a $1.50 spread across an entire section. That is unusually tight, and it tells you the kitchen treats them as broadly interchangeable in cost.
Which means price is not a useful way to choose between them, and calories very much are.
The six, by price and calories
Grilled BBQ Chicken $13.49 at 300 calories. Chicken Critters $13.49 at 480. Herb Crusted Chicken $14.49 at 260. Country Fried Chicken $14.49 at 780. Smothered Chicken $14.49 at 430. Portobello Mushroom Chicken $14.99 at 430.
Same $1.50 price band, and a three-fold calorie range from 260 to 780.
All six include two sides, which are counted separately and add 200 to 1,480 more.
What separates them
The grilled options — Grilled BBQ at 300 and Herb Crusted at 260 — are the two lightest entrées on the whole menu, lighter than most starters and far lighter than any salad.
The fried options carry the difference in batter and gravy rather than in chicken. Country Fried Chicken at 780 contains a similar quantity of chicken to the Herb Crusted at 260; the cream gravy accounts for a substantial share of the gap.
Smothered Chicken and Portobello Mushroom Chicken both land at 430 — grilled chicken with a topping, sitting between the two extremes.
- Lightest — Herb Crusted Chicken, 260 cal, $14.49
- Best value light — Grilled BBQ Chicken, 300 cal, $13.49
- Heaviest — Country Fried Chicken, 780 cal
- Most expensive — Portobello Mushroom Chicken, $14.99
- Whole section spans just $1.50
The Early Dine overlap
Four of the six appear on the $11.99 Early Dine list: Grilled BBQ Chicken, Herb Crusted Chicken, Country Fried Chicken and Chicken Critters.
On the Herb Crusted at $14.49 that is a $2.50 saving, the largest of the four. Where Early Dine is available it is the best route into this section.
The two not on the list are Smothered Chicken and Portobello Mushroom Chicken, both at 430 calories and both carrying a topping. That is a reasonable pattern — the Early Dine list favours the plainer preparations, which are cheaper to plate.
Worth noting that chicken appears well beyond this section too. It is in four of the twelve combos, three of the eight salads and two of the six sandwiches. The Grilled BBQ Chicken with a 6oz Sirloin combo at 590 calories is the best protein-per-calorie plate anywhere on the menu, and it is not on the chicken page at all.
Frequently asked
Which chicken dish is the lightest?
Herb Crusted Chicken at 260 calories — the lightest entrée on the entire menu.
Why is Country Fried Chicken so much heavier?
Batter and cream gravy. The quantity of chicken is comparable to the grilled dishes; the treatment is not.
Are any on the Early Dine menu?
Four of the six, at $11.99. The Herb Crusted carries the largest saving at $2.50.
Keep reading
The Chicken Menu, Dish by Dish
The section people skip on the way to the steaks, containing the two lightest main courses on the board.
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The Lowest-Calorie Meals on the Menu
A complete steakhouse dinner around 450 calories is genuinely available. It just is not where most people look for it.
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Early Dine: The Complete Guide
The largest standing saving on the menu, needing no code and no app — with restrictions worth knowing before you travel for it.
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