The Grocery Store Rotisserie Chicken Customers Choose Over The Rest May Amaze You

There are days where you just don't feel like cooking. We've all been there. But you don't want to spring for delivery, and the idea of eating a frozen dinner, even one of the better ones like the eight best frozen lasagnas, doesn't fill you with much excitement either. Thank goodness, then, for the humble rotisserie chicken. Not only is it a delicious roast chicken that, depending on your culinary skills, may taste better than homemade, you can repurpose the leftovers in all sorts of wonderful ways. Customers love them — so we decided to take a look at what customers had to say about the rotisserie chickens from 11 different grocery stores. The winner? Sam's Club.

... wait a minute, Sam's Club? We thought Costco was the one with the big cult-favorite rotisserie chicken. This is especially jarring, because Sam's Club's non-wholesale counterpart, Walmart, has some of the worst customer reviews out there for its own roast bird. But the data doesn't lie: Sam's Club's rotisserie chicken gets an average of 4.7 stars out of 5 from over 45,000 reviews. Not only are they big birds which will last you a while — one customer marveled, "chicken must have worked out, it was huge" — they're praised for their taste and their brown, crispy skin, as well. Sam's Club (and Walmart) prides itself on being economical, but its rotisserie chicken proves it can back it up with flavor, too.

While Sam's Club topped the list, Costco came in at #5 — just slightly above average. What gives? After all, Costco is a brand that inspires a good deal of loyalty in its customer base, from its $1.50 hot dogs (which come at a price to Costco) to its fan-favorite chicken taco kits. Well, while some customers regard the Kirkland Signature Rotisserie Chickens just as highly as their other Costco favorites, others are nowhere near as impressed. A recurring complaint some have when it comes to Costco's rotisserie chickens is an odd, chemical flavor that has been likened to soap and chlorine. The culprit is likely the phosphate injections which Costco's suppliers use to treat their birds; for some who may have a sensitivity to it, the taste is a cilantro-esque dealbreaker.

Mind you, this is hardly a universal experience. The Costco rotisserie chickens still have plenty of fans, who praise the bird's tasty meat and crispy skin. In fact, many customers manage to do the impossible and leave Costco with only the rotisserie chicken — a demonstration of monastic self-restraint, as well as a testament to just what a draw these chickens really are. With that said, its customer satisfaction isn't quite as strong as Sam's Club, which just goes to show that these things are a matter of taste.