Spring is here, and if you’ve been keeping tabs on the fast-food scene lately, you know the fried chicken sandwich craze shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. Chains big and small keep finding new ways to slide a crispy fillet between a toasted bun, and now one of the most unlikely players has jumped into the game.

7-Eleven, yes, that 7-Eleven, just declared what it’s calling a “chicken takeover.” The convenience store giant rolled out a new trio of hot grab-and-go chicken items, available any time of day at locations nationwide. For those of us who grew up grabbing a Slurpee and calling it lunch, this is a pretty bold swing.

Here’s what they’re offering.

The headliner is a $4 classic chicken sandwich featuring a breast fillet coated in garlicky, spiced breading tucked inside a soft toasted bun. The goal, according to the company, is that signature “golden crunch” people have come to expect from the best birds in the business. At four bucks, the price point alone is worth paying attention to.

The second item is a chicken and waffle sandwich. Imagine a fried chicken fillet topped with hot honey butter, then pressed between two Belgian-style waffles. Sweet, savory, a little sticky. It reads like something your neighbor dreamed up for a weekend brunch and then somehow made portable.

Rounding out the trio are new and improved BOGO boneless wings, available in plain, tangy Buffalo, or spicy-sweet hot honey. Grab a bag on the way to your kid’s Saturday game and you’ve basically solved lunch.

So how do they actually taste? Glad you asked, because results here are genuinely mixed.

The $4 chicken sandwich is a bargain in price but a bit of a letdown in the mouth. The bun looked the part, soft and toasted and promising things it ultimately couldn’t deliver. The fillet, though, lacked crispiness and had a synthetic flavor that was tough to shake. Think mass-produced cafeteria patty rather than the good stuff you’d get at Raising Cane’s or Dave’s Hot Chicken. If you’re in a pinch and need something hot for under five dollars, it’ll do the job. But stack it up against what’s available at almost any nearby fast-food spot and it doesn’t hold its own.

The chicken and waffle sandwich, though? That one landed. The sweetness from the waffle buns and the hot honey butter did some real heavy lifting here, pulling the whole thing together into something genuinely enjoyable. The flavor combination worked, the price is right, and it’s the kind of thing you’d actually look forward to grabbing on a busy school morning or a long drive. If you’ve got a sweet tooth or you’re a brunch person at heart, this sandwich is worth finding your nearest 7-Eleven for.

The BOGO boneless wings are a solid convenience-store snack. Keep your expectations in the reasonable range and they deliver.

Here’s the takeaway for families in the suburbs. 7-Eleven has been quietly upgrading its prepared food game over the past year or so. They even rolled out a new egg salad sandwich inspired by one that went viral overseas. Not every swing connects, but the effort is real, and for a quick, affordable option when you’re running between soccer practice and piano lessons, it’s worth a stop.

If you go, skip the plain chicken sandwich on your first visit and head straight for the chicken and waffle. That’s the one that earns its place on the menu. Grab the BOGO wings as a bonus and you’ve got a pretty solid haul for around ten dollars.

Cost me about $8 and a ten-minute detour on a recent Saturday morning. Not every convenience-store meal needs to be a revelation. Sometimes you just need something hot, fast, and tasty enough to keep everyone quiet until dinner. The waffle sandwich clears that bar with room to spare.