Strategy: Southerners swear by this regional chicken chain's breakfast menu — we went to see if it lives up to the hype (BOJA)

Bojangles' is the fifth largest chicken chain in the country by sales, but is their breakfast worth the trip?

In the South, the biscuit makes the breakfast.

And the biscuit is the unquestionable star of the breakfast menu at Bojangles', a southern chicken and biscuit chain that has cultivated a fervent cult following.

With over 700 locations in 11 states and Washington, DC, the chain has ensconced itself as a regional power player in the chicken game.

Bojangles' is the fifth largest chicken chain in the country by sales, according to QSR Magazine.

To see if Bojangles' chicken and biscuit-centric Southern breakfast lives up to the hype, Business Insider visited a location in Virginia.

The North Carolina-based chain has over 300 locations in that state alone, but we visited one in Charlottesville, Virginia.

It was late in the morning, but we had no qualms — Bojangles' serves breakfast all day. The breakfast menu is fairly large, offering a bevy of biscuit sandwiches as well as some classic morning sides.

We ordered a decent representation of the menu: a chicken biscuit; a Cajun fillet biscuit' a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit; a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit; a country ham biscuit; a plain biscuit; a "Bo-Berry" biscuit; and "Bo rounds," the chain's take on hash browns.

The classic chicken biscuit is just that: a fried chicken fillet in a biscuit. There's a warm simplicity to it, and the size of the chicken is generous. However, the meat itself is a tad on the dry side — similar to Bo's chicken Supremes — and a touch too salty. A smear of jam on the biscuit might help alleviate this, but the taste could still be better.

On the other hand, with the Cajun fillet biscuit, something clicks. The special Bo's Cajun seasoning adds a subtle layer of heat with what seems to be paprika and cayenne. It works perfectly with the blank canvas of the chicken, and the salty, buttery biscuit tempers the spice to a reasonable level. It's an incredibly good sandwich.

Bojangles' more standard breakfast offerings have similar pros and cons as other chains'. The bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit is decent, but nothing to phone home about — the small amount of bacon gets lost within the typical egg fold and the fluffy biscuit. It doesn't really stand out in the crowd.

The sausage version is miles better, mainly because the meat manages to hold its own against the buttery biscuit. It's a standard affair; a salty and peppery sausage patty meets an egg fold and a melty slice of neon orange American cheese. Such a marriage of food is destined to be successful.

"Country ham" seems to be halfway between normal slices of ham and bacon rounds, and it's somehow saltier than both. The biscuit takes control of this sandwich, burying the ham apart from an explosion of salt on the tongue, which leads us to believe the ham and egg version is similar.

Of course, oftentimes simplicity triumphs — and the humble plain biscuit is a triumph indeed. It's buttery, salty, and airy, yet it manages to stay together well without crumbling into a crumby mess. It's a utility player that doesn't put on airs or ask for much, but it delivers every time.

The "Bo-Berry" biscuit, beloved by Bojangles' fans, eschews simplicity and fails to deliver because of it. We can see why it's iconic: it's a brash, bold, and sickly sweet dessert item that would barely qualify as breakfast food, or anything else.

However it is slathered in teeth-decimating sugar icing, and dotted with "blueberries" whose authenticity cannot be determined one way or the other. The "Bo-Berry" biscuit is altogether decadent and overwhelming.

Bojangles' "Bo rounds" are, in a word, delicious. They're almost typical hash brown fare, except they have a much stronger onion flavor, like real hash from the skillet. They keep their crispness despite their size — especially compared to Dunkin Donut's similar hash browns, which are constantly soggy and floppy.

The chain's breakfast menu is a strong one, and it rests primarily on the strength of Bojangles' biscuit. It's one of the best biscuits in the industry, bar none, and that helps bring the standard breakfast sandwiches — even the mediocre ones — to the next level.

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