How far does your
fast food dollar
actually go?
We track calories, protein, and price across thousands of menu items so you can eat more — or smarter — for less.
What the data shows
Is Popeyes actually better value than McDonald's?
Everyone has an opinion. We have the data. We compared the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich to the McChicken head-to-head — price, calories, protein, and what it actually costs to eat 2,000 calories a day from each.
McDonald's
McChicken
~$2.00
200
cal / $
9.5g
protein / $
Popeyes
Classic Chicken Sandwich
~$5.00
140
cal / $
11.2g
protein / $
Three ways to explore the data
Interactive Map
See every location near you. Color-coded by calorie and protein value. Find the best deal in your neighborhood.
Open map →Full Menu Table
Every item. Every restaurant. Sort by cal/$, protein/$, or price. Filter by city, chain, and category.
Browse table →Value Explorer
Scatter-plot view of the entire menu landscape. Instantly see which items deliver both high calories and high protein per dollar.
Open explorer →Facts that'll change how you order
Cost of 2,000 calories from McChickens
The McChicken delivers roughly 200 cal/$. At 2,000 calories/day, that's under $5 — less than a Starbucks latte.
Cost of 2,000 calories from Big Macs vs McChickens
The Big Mac comes in at ~140 cal/$. More than 3× the McChicken cost per calorie — for the same amount of food energy.
Popeyes outperforms McDonald's on protein per dollar
The Popeyes Chicken Sandwich has 38g of protein. Even at a higher price, it delivers more protein per dollar than most McDonald's items.
Average price premium in major cities
The same item can cost meaningfully more in NYC than in Dallas. Our data tracks price variation city by city across every chain we cover.
From the blog
All posts →Popeyes vs McDonald's: Which Chicken Sandwich Is Worth Your Money?
We crunched the numbers: cal/$, protein/$, cost per day's calories, and price variation by city. One winner, one clear loser.
Feb 2026 · 8 min read
More posts coming soon
KFC vs Popeyes, Taco Bell value rankings, and the cheapest way to hit your protein goals.
Internal Links
Explore the Core Value Pages
Move between the menu table, nearby map, value explorer, and supporting analysis so search engines and readers can follow one coherent topic cluster.
Core tools
Related analysis