Chick-fil-A, Church’s, Zaxby’s win at Thrillist’s 2nd fast food awards

It’s the only awards show this season where the winners wore pickles instead of Zac Posen, tomatoes instead of Tom Ford.

Thrillist on Tuesday announced the winners of its second annual Fasties — awards for fast food and fast casual chains and their fare.

Hosts David So and Tim Tim Chantarangsu of Send Foodz returned to take viewers “on a wild, cross country road trip to find the winner of the night’s top prize, Chain of the Year — with fast food tastings, tequila-fueled trivia, and even pit stops with celebrity guests like Big Freedia along the way,” Thrillist wrote.

Two Atlanta-based and one Athens-based restaurants brought home trophies for 2021, although none won chain of the year. That prize went to Wendy’s.

Chick-fil-A won in two categories — best breakfast and best chicken nuggets — and came in second for best new menu item, for its kale crunch salad.

The chicken sandwich at Church’s Chicken now claims the title of MVP — most valuable pickle — and came in third for best new menu item.

If you’re craving the best onion rings, Thrillist said they are at Sonic, where you can get the best soft-serve ice cream for dessert. Best fish sandwich? Head over to Popeyes.

This was the first year in the awards’ two-year history that the Fasties included fast-casual restaurants.

Winners were Shake Shack’s Shackburger single, best cheeseburger; Athens-based Zaxby’s signature sandwich, best fried chicken sandwich; and Five Guys, best fries.

“To win Best Fried Chicken Sandwich is not only a testament to the quality of the sandwich, but also to the people who have been involved in creating this amazing product,” Joel Bulger, Zaxby’s CMO, said in a news release. “This award reflects the talented work of our employees and establishes what we at Zaxby’s already knew, that we have the best fried chicken sandwich among our competitors.”

You can check out all the nominees and winners on Thrillist.com.