Around Palatine there are plenty of fast food restaurants, and I decided that I was going to determine who has the best chicken tenders. 

Before embarking on my quest for the best tender, I asked a few people from Palatine High School their opinions on their favorite chicken tender.

“Personally, my favorite chicken tender around town has to be Chic Fil A,” senior Emma Walrod said.

The restaurants that I stopped at to try some tenders were as follows: Chic Fil A, Raising Canes, Sonic, Photos, and Popeyes.

The list of my expected ranking were:

1. Chic Fil A
2. Canes
3. Culver’s 
4. Popeyes 
5. Sonic

After visiting all of the restaurants, I have come to a conclusion on which tenders reign supreme in my eyes. 

At number five, I have Sonic. Sonic was the second most expensive restaurant, although I also bought a drink with these tenders. The total was $11.19. Quite honestly, there’s not much good about Sonic chicken tenders. The tenders themselves looked very artificial, and they left a really bad aftertaste in my mouth. 

At four I have Culver’s. Culver’s four piece chicken tenders was a total of $7.33. The bread on the tenders were great, and they were the perfect size for a four piece. Culver’s had the best barbecue sauce, although it is just Sweet Baby Ray‘s. The tenders also left a good aftertaste, so I would still recommend Culver’s tenders even though they are ranked at four.

Now we get to the top three. Starting us off I have Popeyes. Popeyes ranks number three with a price of $7.76 for a five piece chicken tender. They definitely had the most visually appealing chicken tenders. The breading was crunchy, but it was honestly too crunchy for my liking. One of the highlights of the tender was the Bayou Buffalo sauce. Overall the chicken was good, but there was just too much breading on the chicken to make it really enjoyable.

At number two, I have Canes. At Canes you can get a box combo, which is four chicken tenders, fries, coleslaw, a piece of warm bread, and a drink for $12.67. Canes has great chicken tenders, but one thing that I’d have to critique about them is that the chicken is a bit dry and stringy. I think that  Canes has the second best sauce on this list, and the sauce really makes up for the dryness of the chicken.

Number one on my list has to be Chic-Fil-A. You can get a four piece spicy chicken tender for a total of $7.36. Chic Fil A just seems to have the best breading and chicken out of all of the restaurants. The tenders left a great aftertaste, and the texture of the chicken was great.

After tasting all of the restaurants’ chicken tenders here are my final rankings. 

1. Chic Fil A
2. Canes
3. Culver’s 
4. Popeyes 
5. Sonic