Chicken Tender Battle Royale

By Kai Neuberger

Chicken is a staple food of an American diet; there’s chicken fried chicken, chicken sandwiches, chicken salads, chicken and waffles, and much more. The list is endless, but there’s one chicken dish we’ve all loved since we’ve had enough teeth to eat it: chicken tenders. It’s time for the Chicken Tender Battle Royale. 

Four chicken places: Zaxbys, Canes, Chick-fil-a, and Slim Chickens, each anonymously fighting for the top spot. Competition is abundant, and tenders are bought from each location and placed separately before five blindfolded judges, but the catch is, all submissions were eaten without sauce. Tender quality was judged on flavor, breading, and tenderness. 

The winner? Zaxby's, followed closely by Chick-Fil-A, Slim Chickens and Canes. 

Despite the overall outcome of the competition, there remains a difference; each separate quality of a tender does not equal perfection. When reading the annotations, one judge stated that there was “too much” breading on Chic-Fil-A’s tenders, leading to its eventual position as second best. Yet, when rated by quality, it got dead last. When hearing their rankings’ origins, judges admitted that ignorance of where one’s food comes from affects the way in which we perceive it as well.