Burger King just brought back its take on a chicken parm sandwich. We tested all 3 versions, and the winner was clear.

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Burger King brought back the Crispy Chicken Parmesan by popular demand. We tried all three versions to see what all the hype was about.
Irene Jiang / Business Insider

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  • Burger King is bringing back its Crispy Chicken Parmesan sandwich for a limited time, along with a new grilled version and a spicy version.
  • The chain had formerly included the sandwich as part of its 2017 summer menu, and it's now brought it back in response to popular demand.
  • We tried all three versions of the Crispy Chicken Parmesan, and the original sandwich blew the other two out of the water.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Crispy Chicken Parmesan first entered the Burger King stage in 2017 hand-in-hand with the cast of "Jersey Shore," which reunited for a "family dinner" in an ad for the sandwich. It had a brief stint as a limited-edition item on the chain's summer menu before it was retired for two years.

Now, it's back for a limited time — and with two new sister variations that allow customers to substitute their crispy chicken with grilled chicken or spicy crispy chicken.

BK took their "Italian(ish)" burger on a tour of Little Italy in a Facebook video, where residents of Little Italy were given Crispy Chicken Parmesan sandwiches to try and reactions ranged from "not bad" to "eh, pretty good."

Motivated by these glowing reviews and a flare-up of our chronic FOMO, we decided to join the fun and try all three of BK's Chicken Parmesan sandwiches.

Here's what we thought:

All three sandwiches made an equally uninspiring first impression.

Irene Jiang / Business Insider

The OG Crispy Chicken Parmesan looked very beige with no visible tomato sauce.

Irene Jiang / Business Insider

The golden-brown crispy chicken did look good, though, and it was layered with white cheese between two brioche buns.

Irene Jiang / Business Insider

The crunchy breaded chicken was the highlight, if a little bit too salty. The sweet bun was a little off-putting, but overall the elements all worked well together to deliver a satisfying Parm-like bite. The tomato sauce, however, was barely there.

Irene Jiang / Business Insider

The Grilled Chicken Parmesan looked like a grilled chicken sandwich topped with tomato sauce and lots of cheese, because that's what it was.

Irene Jiang / Business Insider

We were skeptical...

Irene Jiang / Business Insider

...And rightfully so, as it turns out. The weakest of the trio, the Grilled Chicken Parm was decidedly not intriguing. The rubbery texture of the salty grilled chicken clashed loudly with the heavy cheese, sweet bun, and tomato sauce. There's a reason chicken usually goes with cream.

Irene Jiang / Business Insider

We were most excited about the Spicy Crispy Chicken Parmesan because food is almost always better spicy.

Irene Jiang / Business Insider

Out of the three, it looked the most appetizing, with a beautiful red-brown hue.

Irene Jiang / Business Insider

However, spice just doesn't belong in the blend of flavors that make up a Chicken Parm. It just ended up distracting from an otherwise harmonious blend of crunchy, fluffy, and salty.

Irene Jiang / Business Insider

We all agreed that the original Crispy Chicken Parmesan was by far the best. The Spicy Crispy Chicken Parmesan came in second at a respectable distance, while the Grilled Chicken Parmesan lagged far behind both. While the BK Chicken Parmesan Sandwich doesn't come close to Little Italy, we can agree with our fellow taste-testers in Burger King's video: It's not bad — eh, it's pretty good.

Irene Jiang / Business Insider

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