I was pretty stoked when Lay’s first introduced their “Do Us a Flavor” contest last summer. I mean really. It was about time one of these snack food giants gave me the chance to take my dream of country pate and crusty baguette chips and make it a reality.
Alas, the folks at Frito-Lay decided to crush my dreams by going with three other flavors as their finalists. I can’t say I’m surprised by two of them. I have nothing against Sriracha or Cheesy Garlic Bread, but really, we’ve seen spicy and cheesy when it comes to chips before.
What we haven’t seen before (at least not in America) is chicken & waffles. At least not in fried spud form. Syrup? Yes. Denny’s breakfast platters? Of course. But not potato chips. That’s just crazy talk.
Well, I guess we might as well call Lay’s crazy because they’ve decided to milk this soul food classic for all its “Upcoming Food Trends” list-generating hype is worth.
I’m sure a more prolific writer would resign any poultry puns before embarking on such a review, but there’s really no other way to describe my first reaction when opening the bag; my God, these chips smell foul!
It’s this funky, almost mildew-inducing stench which borders somewhere between brown sugar oatmeal and leftover KFC, as if each chip has been cooked in oil leftover from the original Wells Supper Club in Harlem…circa 1938.
For as bad as the chips smell, they actually look quite appetizing. They appear thicker and more robust than your standard potato chips, and have a kettle-cooked type hue with real, skin-on edges. The seasoning, while smelling just awful, didn’t look unappetizing. Aside from a stick-to-your finger coating of brown sugar and “chicken and waffle seasoning,” there’s even your prerequisite unidentified herb coating each chip.
If you don’t like herbs, you might like these chips because they don’t have any herby taste whatsoever. Of course, you might also like these chips if you enjoy a really funky, if not altogether, off-putting pungency that hangs in the roof of your mouth like Luke Skywalker dangling in the Wampa’s cave during The Empire Strikes Back.
I really don’t know how to describe the taste other than clashing and vaguely reminiscent of mold. There’s something about the initial zip of brown sugar; followed by the artificial chicken taste; some fake butter flavor thrown in there just for good measure; and the onion, garlic and chicken bullion that make for a really, really strange flavor.
Oh, who am I kidding?
These are horrible. They taste old and rotten. And while there’s a nice crunch that’s more substantial than your standard Lay’s chip, there’s no taste of a potato whatsoever. Even the artwork on the bag looks unappetizing – like a Play-Doh reconstructed waffle and the kind of chicken drumette they stick in working kitchen displays in IKEAs. Forget that foodie-inspired wisdom you think you know because, after eating these, I never want to encounter brown sugar, chicken broth, and onion powder in this close proximity ever again.
And that aroma. I just can’t get past it. The only thing that compares is sticking your face into an amusement park trash can and taking a gigantic whiff of stuff.
I was completely prepared to admonish Lay’s for picking two “safer” flavors when it came to their Flavor Finalists, but Sriracha and Cheesy Garlic Bread now look really good. I can’t fathom them being any worse than these chicken & waffles chips. And to think, they could have totally struck it rich with that country pate and crusty baguette flavor…
(Editor’s Note: We reviewed the other two Lay’s Do Us a Flavor Finalists. Click here for the Cheesy Garlic Bread flavor and click here for the Sriracha flavor.)
(Nutrition Facts – 28g/about 17 chips – 160 calories, 90 calories from fat, 10 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 135 milligrams of sodium, 320 milligrams of potassium, 15 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.)
Item: Lay’s Do Us a Flavor Finalist Chicken & Waffles Potato Chips
Purchased Price: $3.00
Size: 9.5 oz. bag
Purchased at: Weis Market
Rating: 1 out of 10
Pros: Crunchier than a normal Lay’s chips. Smells slightly better than sticking your head into an amusement park trash can.
Cons: Heavy doses of brown sugar and ‘savory’ spices come together worse than blindly pouring an entire spice cabinet into a bowl. Moldy smell comes across in the seasoning. Can’t taste the potatoes. Quite possibly the least appetizing potato product I’ve ever eaten.
But don’t hold back… tell us how you really feel.
I have a bag sitting on my desk. I’m now afraid to open it.
T_T My heart is BREAKING!!!!!!!!!! Shattered to PIECES!!!!! I guess that means the only way to really enjoy chicken and waffles is to actually have chicken and waffles.
I actually want to try them more now… is that weird?
I’m with Dani! Never has such a negative review driven me to want something more than these chips. Scary.
The sriracha ones are quite good.
I’m going to buy a bag and leave them out for my husband to “steal.” Maybe that will teach him to back off my snacks.
My mom and I were at Meijer today and we saw a display for them all. I told my mom not to get the chicken and waffle ones because of this review lol. She instead went with the Garlic cheesy bread one and she LOVED this flavor.
And yet the finalist will get a minimum of 50 grand for that flavor. I have not seen any of the three flavors yet, but still want to try them out.
Ok, I tried these chips today and I thought they were pretty good. I also have the cheesy garlic bread ones, haven’t tried them yet
Well that’s disappointing.
I’d prefer a casual prison stabbing that eat another one of these so called potato chips.
Ever go on vacation and forget to take out the trash that contained chicken remnants? Well, go for the rancid trash bin instead of the chips because it least the garbage bag is big enough to suffocate you. That would be the ONLY plus to having chicken/waffle chips in a family size bag!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks they’re…. a lot less than stellar. I don’t really see the appeal in a combination such as this, and I don’t know how Lays did. I tried them multiple times just to give them a chance, and the tastes just don’t mix. And, they leave an aftertaste that reminds me of the cheap, no-name chips you can find at places like the Christmas Tree Shop. I’m game to try different flavors, but this one is just ew.
We only have sriracha flavor here. Those were good. This is one of those reviews that will force me to buy the chips just to see how bad they are though.
My parents and I just tried the Chicken and Waffles and we LOVED them!!
I am not in any way influenced by a bad review
and in this case I disagree with the review!!
I will vote for Chicken and Waffles!!
Love them too!!
I tried them all the chicken and waffles are my fave. This is a review,one persons opinion…dont let that stop you….they’re yummy!!
My family and I just tasted the Chicken & Waffles and we did not like it. One of my friends said it taste like bad syrup. It just wants the taste that we were expecting. However; we love the fact that you are willingly to think outside of the box with your flavors. In this case we all just ate “one”.
All positive reviews of this product are hereby null and void as your minds have been sufficiently altered by the chemicals in this product. Your rational thinking has been invalidated by deep fried crud and chem trails.
Agreed. Just got a bag today. Funky smell, weird taste. Can’t wait to try the other flavors.
I just had a party with 15 friends and we tried all three varieties of chips. Hands down everyone’s favorite was the chicken and waffles! Maybe our closer proximity to Roscoe’s had an impact on our taste buds but we all adored these and thought they smelled GREAT! To be honest, when the garlic cheesy bread bag was opened a majority of us agreed that that bag actually smelled rank. I guess everyone has different views, but I highly recommend this flavor! Don’t let this review stop you from at least trying them! Delicious!
You know, one thing really struck me when I read this review: At no point does the reviewer say that he has ever eaten chicken and waffles. That would have gone a long way toward establishing the credibility of his opinion on these chips. Obviously, if you are someone who he is predisposed to dislike chicken and waffles or have no idea how it is supposed to taste, your opinion would be meaningless. Fir what it’s worth, the Junk Food Guy had a very different take on this flavor:
http://junkfoodguy.com/2013/02/18/review-x3-lays-cheesy-garlic-bread-chicken-waffles-sriracha-potato-chips-three-flavor-finalists-vote-to-save-your-fave-mega-review/
I hope your review of the chicken and waffle chips do NOT deter a lot of people from trying them, I had them once and LOVED them. Now I can’t find a bag of them anywhere! I encourage everyone to at least TRY them before letting a negative review prohibit you from making your own decision with your OWN tastbuds–they are addicting!
I hate these too, but to me they taste almost exactly like McDonald’s McGriddles.
The best part is potato chips with maple taste. The rest is after taste that isn’t that grate. I’ve eaten 10-15 chips trying to like them and the more I eat them the worse they get. One or two at a time is ok-ish, but over 5 chips just give you a bad after taste. I’ll try and dump it on a friend with kids.
Oh man, these chips WERE terrible. I bought them not actually knowing that “Chicken and Waffles” was a strange combination that people in some other parts of the country actually ate (I’m from suburban Missouri). I saw them and went; “Oh my god, that’s hilarious. Look at those weird chips!” As I am a masochist, we bought them and brought them home.
It took us about a week to get up the guts to try them and that was ONLY after we bought and tasted a bag of cheesy garlic bread chips to reassure ourselves. Man, these chips are AWFUL. My boyfriend wouldn’t even try them after seeing the look on my face and my mom made quite the array of unhappy noises while eating hers. Your description is pretty apt! And the taste really DOES stick around. I wanted to like these, I really did, but like Thanksgiving-Flavored Jones Soda, they were more about the experience!
P.S. We fed ours to the birds in the yard!
I never spit out a potato chip until today when i tryed the chicken and waffle chip. they were horrible. P.S.Yes I have had chichken and waffles before.
Sage is the unidentified herb…..
I liked them! It legitimately tasted like you were eating syrup covered waffles. I’m guessing the writer and other comment-leavers do not like waffles.
I didn’t try these the first time they were on the shelf, but they are back in our stores (Birmingham, AL)…and they need to go back to Lays and stay there!! The smell and taste is awful, and friends concur. We are definitely from the south…we love fried chicken, waffles with maple syrup and chicken w/waffles, but these should not be made into a potato chip, or at least not this potato chip!!!
This is one of the best chips I have ever had it has waffle and fried chicken seasonings on it,.
You guys are crazy.
I LOVE the chicken and waffles chips. I’m hoping they are not gone forever as I have not been able to find them in the grocery store over the last several weeks. They are the perfect PMS comfort food!!! Sweet from the maple flavoring and salty from the other seasonings.
I do not understand why the chicken & waffle chips are flakey, not lattice cut. not only does it make sense visually but I think the flavor could be more appreciated in this format.
I actually kinda loved these.