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Chick-fil-A introduces Grilled Spicy Chicken Deluxe Sandwich as limited-time offer at restaurants nationwideChick-fil-A introduces Grilled Spicy Chicken Deluxe Sandwich as limited-time offer at restaurants nationwide

This is the chain’s first LTO entrée since the summer of 2019

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

January 22, 2021

3 Min Read
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Chick-fil-A, the creator of the fried chicken sandwich that so many restaurant chains seem to have copied over the past year, is taking a different route and rolling out a grilled chicken item starting Jan. 25.

The Grilled Spicy Chicken Deluxe Sandwich is the first limited-time entrée that the Atlanta-based quick-service chain has offered since 2019, when it offered a Smokehouse BBQ Bacon Sandwich over the summer.

The new item is made with grilled chicken breast marinated in a spicy seasoning and served on a multigrain brioche bun with Colby-Jack cheese, lettuce and tomato. It comes with a side of Cilantro Lime Sauce, a creamy condiment that the chain developed specifically for the sandwich. It will be available through April 24 while supplies last, starting at $5.39.

“We know guests are looking to add more variety to their meals, especially after a year where new food experiences were limited. The Grilled Spicy Deluxe offers the spicy flavors our guests have come to know and love, now available in a grilled option,” said Leslie Neslage, director of menu and packaging at Chick-fil-A, Inc. “We dedicate an average of 18 to 24 months to testing a new item before adding it to the national menu, and the Grilled Spicy Deluxe received positive feedback when it was previously tested in select markets.”

Those markets were Knoxville, Tenn.; Orlando, Fla.; and St. Louis.

Although this is Chick-fil-A’s first new entrée LTO in more than a year, the chain of more than 2,600 restaurants did roll out various drinks, desserts and sides last year, including a Chicken Tortilla Soup — shredded chicken with navy and black beans in a white creamy base with vegetables and spices, topped with tortilla strips — that was introduced in November and is slated to be on the menu through April.

A Peppermint Chip Milkshake, introduced at the same time and made with soft serve spun with peppermint bark chips and topped with whipped cream and a cherry, is scheduled to be removed on Jan. 23

In September, Chick-fil-A rolled out a new dessert as a permanent addition to the menu: A Chocolate Fudge Brownie with semi-sweet chocolate in the batter as well as fudge chunks baked into the brownie and also introduced a new blend of its Thrive Farmers coffee intended to pair better with the chain’s breakfast menu. It also started testing a Honey Pepper Pimento Chicken Sandwich — Chicken breast drizzled with honey, topped with pimento cheese and served on a warm toasted bun with mild pickled jalapeño peppers — in upstate South Carolina and the Asheville, N.C. area.

For the summer, Chick-fil-a offered a Mango Passion Tea Lemonade and a peach milkshake.

In May, Chick-fil-A, like many restaurants, started offering meal kits for its guests to prepare at home, something it first attempted in 2018.

The Chicken Parmesan Meal Kit had two seasoned, breaded and pressure-cooked chicken fillets, marinara sauce, Italian-style cheeses, creamy garlic and lemon pasta and cooking instructions.

Before the pandemic started, last January, Chick-fil-A rolled out a new side as a permanent addition to the menu. The Kale Crunch Side is made with k Kale and cabbage tossed in an apple cider and Dijon mustard vinaigrette and topped with salted almonds.

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected] 

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About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality for Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group, with responsibility for spotting and reporting on food and beverage trends across the country for both publications as well as guiding overall F&B coverage. 

He is the host of a podcast, In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN. 

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends. 

Bret Thorn’s Experience: 

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008 
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988 
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: [email protected]

Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.thorn.52
Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Instagram: @foodwriterdiary

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