Are chicken tenders the new battleground for fast-food fried chicken? Which are the best?

Rick Christie, Palm Beach Post
Updated ·2 min read

America has a bit of a love affair with fried chicken; and tenders are no exception. And Palm Beach County is no different.

There is no shortage of local restaurants that offer them — under various nom de guerre — on their menu. Indeed, tenders have become a bit of staple for many fast-food restaurants.

So popular are they that last month, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) fired a shot across the bow of all other local fast-food purveyors of chicken tenders by launching a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz for its new tenders using the chain's original recipe. But is it enough to knock off local fast-food fan faves like Chick-fil-A and Bud's Chicken and Seafood, or popular newcomers like Raising Cane’s and Huey Magoo's? We wanted to know, and thought you might also.

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KFC has launched and relaunched a few new items over the past few years, in an effort to establish its dominance in the popular “fast-chicken” arena. Could this be a repeat of the big #chickensandwichwar sparked by Popeye's and Chick-fil-A a few years ago?

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Palm Beach Post's top editor conducts taste test of chicken tenders from 10 local fast-food restaurants

Palm Beach Post Executive Editor Rick Christie tries out chicken tenders at local fast-food restaurants. Which is his favorite?
Palm Beach Post Executive Editor Rick Christie tries out chicken tenders at local fast-food restaurants. Which is his favorite?

Well, The Palm Beach Post is never shy about going into a potential food war zone. (Or throwing its executive editor into the middle of one.) Post readers deserve objectively reported coverage to help them navigate this escalating battle for fowl dominance. No sacrifice is too great.

We will be testing chicken tenders currently offered by 10 local fast-food eateries and ranking them using five criteria: flavor; texture; temperature; batter/coating; and sauces. Each category will carry a maximum of five points for max total of 25 points. Only the restaurant's original tenders will be tested; no specialty flavors.

We'll publish a story on the results the week of July 15. And that time, we will also be polling readers on their favorite of the 10. Then, we plan to publish those results to see how they stack up against The Post's.

It's The Post's hope that this judging's results will be as enlightening for readers as judging the Great Chicken Sandwich War of 2021.

Let's eats some chicken!

Rick Christie is executive editor of The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at rchristie@pbpost.com and followed on X (formerly Twitter) at @rchristiepbp. Subscribe to independent reporting that supports democracy via subscribe.palmbeachpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Fried chicken tenders, the new fast-food restaurants war