Jay Bird's Chicken

Hot chicken usually comes with a side of bread, pickles, and a creamy dish like mac and cheese, but Jay Bird’s in Long Beach decided to spare us the extra effort by throwing them all together into one chicken sandwich. The Macdaddy is not to be reckoned with, and consists of a juicy fried chicken breast topped with warm mac and cheese inside a brioche bun. The chicken here comes in six levels of spiciness with extra crispy skin to balance out the mac. The vinegar-based slaw also adds a great acidic twist that cuts nicely through the hefty sandwich. But the Macdaddy still wouldn’t be complete without its tangy mayo-based Comeback sauce or Jay Bird’s cayenne-heavy “Big Sexy Sauce.” There’s no question that there’s a lot going on with this sando, but don’t assume the mac and cheese will save you if you go too hot. Yes, the creaminess helps curb the chicken’s heat, but think twice before going “Reaper Hot.”