You May Crunch On A Bone When Biting Into Starbucks' Maple Chicken Sandwich

Maybe there are just some things Starbucks shouldn't do, and a chicken sandwich is probably one of them. There is no shame in a coffee shop not being able to do everything; Starbucks has plenty of hot breakfast items, and some, like the egg bites, are quite good. But as a corporate chain forever chasing the next big thing (or yesterday's big thing), it's inevitable that some efforts are going to fall flat. Some new Starbucks drinks will hit, some won't, and when it comes to the food that baristas are usually just tossing in a heater and not making on site, the hit rate is bound to be even lower.

Alas, it seems like some things are too popular for Starbucks to give up on, and the continuing popularity of chicken sandwiches seems to one them. That would be more understandable if Starbucks' breakfast effort, the Maple Butter Chicken & Egg Sandwich, simply tasted bad. However, it gets a little more confusing when people keep finding bones in them.

If you don't remember, Starbucks first released the maple chicken sandwich back in 2022, chasing the chicken boom. Its reception was mixed at best, but it was quickly pulled after reports of some customers getting sick, while others complained about biting into bones. Starbucks' then quietly snuck it back onto the menu late last year or early this year without an official announcement, and unfortunately, another person has posted on Reddit that they bit into a pretty sizable bone in their sandwich.

The original Reddit post with a picture of a bone found in the Starbucks Maple Butter Chicken & Egg Sandwich is so far the first and only notice of a major problem with the product, but the previous rollout was quite the debacle, and this finding had a number of commenters wondering if history is repeating itself. When the first chicken sandwich was released, it was hyped as Starbucks' first attempt at chicken, but things quickly went sideways. Customers on TikTok and Reddit made posts complaining about multi-day bouts of diarrhea and vomiting, and if there were any concerns about people online exaggerating, multiple employees at a New England Starbucks also got sick after eating the sandwich. Some other complaints centered around the chicken patty not being fully cooked when customers bit into it.

While those widespread issues don't seem to be repeating with the new release, the response from fans and reviewers to the quality of the sandwich would suggest that you are better off not taking any chances. Many Starbucks fans who have posted about the sandwich on Reddit have called it bland, dry, and mealy, with some saying it was mediocre at best. If a maple flavored chicken and egg sandwich does still sound appealing to you, then you are free to give it a try, but you've been warned, and you may find an unexpected surprise inside.