Review: Chick-Fil-A’s Smokehouse BBQ Bacon Sandwiches Quickly Become a Favorite

It might not be barbecue season quite yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t eat barbecue-inspired food in anticipation of it. Spring is that season when it’s summer in the sun and winter in the shade, so Chick-Fil-A has decided to bridge the gap with a collection of summery flavors and piquant spice in its latest limited-time offering. This time, the offer comes together with some cool iced drinks.

That’s right, Chick-Fil-A fans will find three variations of the returning Smokehouse BBQ Bacon sandwich and four types of new Pineapple Dragonfruit drink waiting for them at the counter this month, starting March 17. We know this time of the year you might be focused on the limited McDonald’s Shamrock Shake, but thankfully, these Chick-Fil-A items will be on offer for longer. Chick-Fil-A invited Tasting Table to Manhattan to sample these new releases in advance.

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

The Smokehouse BBQ Bacon sandwich is making its third appearance on the Chick-Fil-A menu as it initially debuted in 2017 and returned in 2022. However, this time, it’s not just the fried chicken cutlet as the offer includes three options: original fried, grilled, and spicy fried. All three variations pair the chicken with sweet and spicy bacon tossed in a blend of brown sugar and black pepper, nestled under melting Colby Jack cheese and lettuce. The yeasted bun is, naturally, sauced with a smoky barbecue and also lightly toasted and buttered.

While lots of chains often introduce limited-time offerings, this is pretty remarkable for Chick-Fil-A, which is not prone to rolling out new recipes very often. However, it seems that this approach has changed slightly as we have recently seen more innovations on Chick-Fil-A menus, including its new Maple Pepper Bacon Sandwich. To cleanse the palate, the Pineapple Dragonfruit flavor brightens up four drinks: lemonade, iced tea, frozen lemonade, and Sunjoy, which is a combination of the iced tea and lemonade.

The BBQ Smokehouse Bacon sandwich has been spotted before, but now you get to pick your filet of choice. We tried all three options to decide on our favorite, which can help you if you only have the opportunity or budget for one. The Pineapple Dragonfruit beverages are brand-new, debuting now, and hopefully returning depending on the demand.

These spring flings are available starting March 17 and last until June 7. You can try them for at least a few weeks but don’t get lax. Officially, these are available “while supplies last,” meaning that they might vanish much sooner in your area, depending how devoted the local Chick-Fil-A fandom is. Keep in mind that Chick-Fil-A told us that opening a franchise location in a new area that hasn’t had one often leads devotees to make quite a run on the place. You can pick them up at Chick-Fil-A locations nationwide unless you live in one of the two states without a Chick-Fil-A.

As for price, that varies by region, but starting prices are approximately the same. The Original Smokehouse BBQ Bacon is $7.25, and the Spicy one is $7.65. The Grilled Smokehouse BBQ Bacon is priced slightly higher, at $8.19, despite skipping the breading and frying stage. Drinks-wise, the Pineapple Dragonfruit Iced Tea is your cheapest option at $2.89, while the Pineapple Dragonfruit Sunjoy and Pineapple Dragonfruit Lemonade are both $3.25. Getting the Pineapple Dragonfruit Frosted Lemonade is the priciest option, coming at $4.75. If you miss out, another fruit infusion will probably come along, though there’s no guarantee these will ever return to the menu.

If you’ve ever had Chick-Fil-A before, you’ll know that its chicken is extra tender, supposedly because the brand leaves chicken cutlets in pickle brine before they are cooked with a unique pressure method. The company is coy about the actual secret recipe and even keeps it in a safe, but boy, is their system effective. Tender chicken in a crispy shell, combined with bacon and barbecue? How can I even resist?

Right out of the gate, we’re looking at a winner. The bacon is seasoned with brown sugar that sweetens and smokifies it (shut up, it’s a word), while the BBQ sauce provides complementary flavors. Chick-Fil-A went with Colby-Jack cheese for this one, a laudable choice for an underappreciated cheese. This was my introduction to Chick-Fil-A, and I do understand the cult appeal. Unless you know a chef making everything in great-grandma’s cast-iron skillet at a roadside shack, this is one of the smarter destinations available to you if you’re really craving fried chicken.

Full nutritional information for all of these items will be available online, starting March 17 via these instruction. However, we know that the total calorie count for The Original Smokehouse BB Bacon sandwich is 670 calories.

Though I liked the Original, the Spicy Smokehouse BBQ Bacon sandwich brings a welcomed extra element — and it’s not just the heat. This sandwich has a more complex flavor, owing to whatever’s used to add piquancy. The heat comes from a very manageable spice. Unlike some places that provide a brief nod towards spicy, in this version, it doesn’t feel absent. Those who like heat won’t feel cheated, and those who have a low tolerance don’t need to fear another Shake Shack Hot Menu situation. Additionally, the heat pairs well with the BBQ element. I’m glad to have tried both, but this is my order if I’m actually buying lunch.

Compared to the Original, the Spicy Smokehouse BBQ Bacon comes up to 690 calories. This is a slight bump due to whatever ingredients are contributing their zip to the sandwich. I’d say the extra 20 calories are well spent as they bring heat and a more complex flavor to what was already a fantastic sandwich in terms of flavor and texture.

At 520 calories, the Grilled Smokehouse BBQ Bacon sandwich is a slightly lower-calorie option without the breading, unlike the two fried chicken filets. I daresay it’s sweeter, or seemingly leaves more room for the sweetness to strut its stuff. Possibly, this version might reveal that supposed pickle brine a little more than a deep-fried chicken would. This might be my imagination, but it still uses this surprise to its advantage. It just tastes like a nice, cleaner interaction between the sandwich’s elements, which is ideal for those who like simplicity done well. I’m very hard-set to pick a favorite, but I can see there would be times I’d prefer this lighter edition over the crisp Spicy.

Chick-Fil-A occasionally offers a spicy version of the grilled filet as well, but not here in the Smokehouse suite. Right now, if you want it hot, you’ll have to be cool with a fried shell. Yeah, you’ll have to eat fried chicken — it’s a rough life for the spice-seekers.

Similar to the Cherry Berry lineup that was released in 2024 or the Key Lime offer that was reintroduced in 2025, this Dragonfruit-themed limited release puts a fruity spin on the mainstay beverages found on the Chick-Fil-A menu. It seems that Chick-Fil-A has adopted these seasonal spins on the drinks menu as the limited-time offer of choice.

Kudos for getting the mild dragon fruit to hold its own against a bulldozer like pineapple (and perhaps even overwhelm it), but I have to say the sweet tea is too sweet for my taste. Yes, I know it’s supposed to be sweet — in a technical sense, it’s a victory — but my third sip already has me sinking under the intensity, and I’d rather have this as a straightforward iced tea. Fortunately, there is an option for this as Chick-Fil-A offers the tea and fruit flavor without all the added sweetener.

Pineapple Dragonfruit Iced Tea comes up to 180 calories. This wouldn’t be my first pick, but thinking of it more as a fruit juice refresher flattens some of the dissonance in needing a drink of water to clear my palate after my tea.

Just as the iced tea can come as a regular tea or sweet tea, you can tweak the regular lemonade into a diet version. And thank goodness for that because the Pineapple Dragonfruit Lemonade is even sweeter than its iced tea counterpart, evoking memories of the big pink lemonade. The acidity cuts through the sweetness, so the effects aren’t as explosive, but it’s pretty obvious that this drink packs more sweetness that shows on the palate. At 260 calories, it’s hard to imagine drinking this without a meal to break it up.

Now, the good news: the pineapple comes through a little better, and it somehow lets the dragon fruit display more of its low-key earthiness. But regardless, it’s a pass for me. I’d take the tea over this one. Even if I were coming in after a long run on a hot day and needed a hit of carbs and water, I think this would weigh too heavily on my palate.

Somehow, combining the iced tea and the lemonade made the Pineapple Dragonfruit Sunjoy less sweet than either one. It shouldn’t come across as such. At 230 calories, it’s plainly the midpoint of the two beverages that went into it, but at last, we have refreshment. Double acidity gives it a nice, mild tang that stays prominent even as the ice melts and tones down the intensity. In this drink, those fruity elements finally get the stage to showcase their best qualities.

This would be my drink order if I were getting a meal special — which I just might do under the deception of telling myself that I can forego gigantic waffle fries to get a bright green kale side salad. The half lemonade and half iced tea are as delightful solo as sipped in between bites of sandwich. This is a drink I would definitely recommend.

While it might sound like a slushy, the Frosted Lemonade is better described as a milkshake, though Chick-Fil-A also serves real, thick milkshakes, topped with whipped cream and a cherry. This half-step is a custardy blend of the Pineapple Dragonfruit Lemonade with Icedream, the chain’s in-house soft serve, which is not technically ice cream. And it’s delicious, offering an orange creamsicle profile instead of the pineapple’s best impression of a citrus fruit. For 360 calories, it actually drinks a lot lighter than most of the other lineup. It’s kind of ironic that the heaviest sipper of the bunch actually has half the calories of the smoothest.

Ah well, this was still terrific. Honestly, it’s almost tied with the Sunjoy, because at least this one is supposed to taste as sweet as the entire line does. I’d rather enjoy a forthright indulgence that burns more of my daily macros than have a similar experience that feels like it should be more refreshing, even if it’s at half the calories. I wasn’t drinking this wishing I was having the full-on milkshake, I was enjoying what it was. The sweetened tea, by contrast, is a steady reminder that I wished I were having a smooth iced tea. If you order the Frosted Lemonade, you’ll get exactly what you wanted.

While I can think of more frustrating combinations of dragons with ice and fire on the cultural landscape, I’d skip the drinks and focus on the sandwiches. The latter are assembled into well-balanced engines of satisfaction, while the former are cloying to their own detriment. The actual flavors are good, but they get in their own way, burying what works under a glaze.

Despite my dessert tooth, maybe I’m just not built for super-sweet drinks. If you’re someone who shows up for the regular editions, you’re not going to balk at what’s present in both versions, and you might as well try them with a serving of double-fruit juice. After all, you’re certainly going to need something to drink if you do what I did and eat all three Smokehouse chicken sandwiches — and take it from me — you definitely want to. Get the sandwiches, and go light on the drinks. The food’s the best use of your caloric intake this time.