For a food that’s the farthest thing from a delicacy, thechicken tenderis remarkably ever-present.
The reason they’re so prevalent?
Because kids love them, and you’ll almost always find them on the kids' menu.
Photo: Canva. Design: Eat This, Not That!
It’s nothing short of a miracle, to be honest.
Tender is short for tenderloin, or the part of the bird on the underside of the breast.
Here’s how they compared, ranked in descending order from worst to best.
Jené Luciani Sena, Eat This, Not That!
Warning: my eldest proclaimed “they all suck.”
Hey, you could’t win ‘em all.
I paid $18.13 for an order of tenders and two sides via DoorDash.
Jené Luciani Sena, Eat This, Not That!
Sadly, its tenders were a colossal flop.
If you couldseewhat dry tastes like, this was it.
The taste:Surprisingly, the kids didn’t mind these.
Jené Luciani Sena, Eat This, Not That!
Although pitted against the others, they deemed these the worst of the bunch.
The restaurant also states on its menu that they are “hand-breaded.”
It cost me $12.73 per order.
Jené Luciani Sena, Eat This, Not That!
The look:These had the most unique look as far as I’m concerned.
The taste:We had many thoughts on these.
I’ll start with the good.
Jené Luciani Sena, Eat This, Not That!
Now, to the bad stuff.
The chicken itself had no flavor at all.
One kid said, “This doesn’t even taste like chicken!”
Also, the breading was a bit too greasy to be crunchy and had a strange aftertaste.
After doing some research, I learned that these are fried in soybean oil.
I’m not sure if that’s the reason for the aftertaste, but it was definitely strange.
The freshness factor helped these escape the worst spot on the list, but they are a close second.
Apparently, the kitchen had an off night, and our food took over an hour to arrive.
The good news is, they were pretty good and well-received by all.
The highlight for our youngest son was the accompanying smiley face-shaped french fries, which he gobbled up first.
The taste:These tenders were perfectly crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside.
These looked and smelled so good, I couldn’twaitto take a bite.
Alas, I had to let the kiddos go first.
It’s not the pop in of snack you want to take to church.
I only placed one order and the kids were fighting over them.
(For what it’s worth, they also gobbled up the accompanying fries.)
The tenders cost me $16.09.
The look:These were smaller in stature than others.
The breading was lightly colored and not greasy but also not dry.
The taste:Upon first bite, one kid simply exclaimed, “Yum!”
Even so, that’s fairly high praise for a teenager.
I think it’s safe to say we’d order these again!
