the great knoxvillian chicken war

i know it might be a little bit passé to talk about the UT strip on our ultra-hip knoxville blog, but there is a war going on down there that merits discussion. it's a chicken finger war. a couple months ago, all was peaceful on the strip. sawyer's was enjoying a dominant share of the chicken finger market and business was good.

then construction began.

first it was guthrie's, then zaxby's. two chicken finger chain restaurants across the street from one another when there was already a knoxville version. all three of these restaurants serve almost the exact same product at a very similar price. i have now eaten at each of these places and here are my findings:

sawyer's:
the good - local, unique, great chicken and texas toast, great sauce
the bad - chicken fingers are small, restaurant isn't well-kept, bad hours

guthrie's:
the good - nice restaurant, great patio, slightly more variety, breakfast and late-night service
the bad - weak sauce (literally), portions are too small, chicken is greasier

zaxby's:
the good - great restaurant and patio, best tasting chicken, seasoned fries, large portions, most variety (zalads!)
the bad - pre-packaged sauce, slower service

conclusion: zaxby's wins. it has the best food, the best variety, and the nicest restaurant. however, if you like supporting local business, then stick with sawyer's. i'm interested to see what the guthrie's breakfast is like, but besides that, i don't really want to eat there again. in the meantime, the war wages on...