As someone who searches for chicken tenders on every restaurant menu, I feel qualified to rank my favorite chicken from fast-food restaurants from best to worst. After going out and trying solely the chicken nuggets or tenders from each fast-food restaurant, they received a rating. These ratings are based on the quality of the restaurant’s food and the time that it took to produce it. Overall, I have come to the conclusion that the fried chicken available within the Cedar Park area is nothing short of amazing. 

1. Chick-Fil-A, $11.49 for a meal

Ascending to heaven is the only appropriate feeling to have whenever eating Chick-Fil-A nuggets. The crunchy crust and warm, tender inside makes Chick-Fil-A nuggets the best in town, if not the world. However, what sets Chick-Fil-A apart from the rest is the plethora of sauces available for customers to choose from. On top of the classic sauces, there is also Zesty Buffalo sauce and the signature Chick-Fil-A sauce that adds an extra boost of flavor to the already-amazing nuggets. I would like to rate these a 1000/10, but, for the purpose of keeping ratings accurate, I give Chick-Fil-A nuggets a 10/10. 

2. Raising Cane’s, $9.49 for a meal

Alongside the mouth-watering garlic bread, Raising Cane’s—more commonly known as just Cane’s—has the best chicken tenders possibly ever. Similar to Chick-Fil-A, Cane’s Sauce makes the chicken even better than it already is originally. Many, however, complain that sometimes Cane’s chicken tenders can be overly greasy. But, isn’t a little grease the point of eating chicken tenders? In my personal opinion, I absolutely love Cane’s chicken tenders and will always be down for a late-night Cane’s run (especially since they’re open until midnight). For this reason, I give Cane’s chicken tenders an 8/10.

3. McDonald’s, $6.70 for a meal

Despite the stigma that McDonald’s receives, the quality of their chicken nuggets is stellar considering the time frame they are produced in. Additionally, McDonald’s recently brought back their signature spicy chicken nuggets, which provide customers with another amazing option to choose from. A classic six count Happy Meal will truly make anyone over the moon with joy as they indulge in chicken nuggets that taste like childhood. Considering all of this—and the perfectly golden, crispy fries—I give McDonald’s chicken nuggets a 7/10. 

4. Whataburger, $9.19 for a meal

Contrary to most other fast-food restaurants, Whataburger makes all of their food fresh to the order, thus, you would think their chicken tenders would be superior to the rest. The unique, soft breading of Whataburger chicken tenders is what makes it special considering most other chicken tenders are crunchy and greasy. However, Whataburger chicken tenders are soft and chewy, which makes them stellar in my opinion. One of the major downsides to Whataburger, though, is the amount of time that it takes to receive your order. If I were rating solely based on the chicken tenders, I would give Whataburger an 8/10, however, since the time it takes to leave the drive-thru is substantial, I have to rate Whataburger an overall 6/10. 

5. Sonic, $6.29 for a meal

Up until this article, I had never personally had Sonic chicken tenders. While there wasn’t a high expectation, Sonic chicken tenders still greatly disappointed me. It felt as if the chicken tenders had been sitting under a heat lamp for a good while, considering when I received them they were only warm on the outside but the chicken itself was cold (which did not make for a good experience). The one redeeming quality about Sonic chicken tenders was the crunchy crust and soft inside, which almost made up for the unbalanced temperatures. On top of this, Sonic also took about 20 minutes to deliver my order to my car, which is absolutely absurd for solely chicken tenders. For these reasons, I rate Sonic chicken tenders a 4/10.