Chicken tenders are back in a big way.

We tried chicken tenders from several major fast-food chains to find out whose are the best.

McDonald's new tenders are a massive improvement and make it into the top three, but Chick-fil-A still comes out on top.



The humble chicken tender — or chicken fingers, in some circles — is making a comeback.

Chicken tenders are the most glorious incarnation of handheld fried chicken. They're heftier than nuggets, simpler than wings, ideologically purer than boneless wings. The adoration for chicken tenders is universal, bridging the spans of age and class alike — the great equalizers, so they say, are death, taxes, and tenders. With McDonald's resurrecting them on their menu and Wendy's introducing theirs, the time for tenders has come.

A handful of major fast-food chains offer tenders, and we decided to put them all to the test to see which con-tender (sorry) reaches the top of the tourney.