South Jersey’s battle for the best nuggets/tenders has a new contender – and it offers more than just being open on Sundays. Raising Canes opened its first South Jersey location in Burlington County, 2329 Burlington-Mount Holly Rd, Burlington, NJ on Wednesday, January 17th and is also opening locations in Cherry Hill and Marlton in the next few weeks. First originated in Louisiana, Raising Canes has made a name for itself for their chicken fingers, infamous Canes sauce, and their Texas toast.

Until now, many considered Chick-fil-A the local gold standard of these delicacies. Chick-fil-A, most known for their signature chicken nuggets, has over 3,000 locations in 48 different states.
With these two places now being available in South Jersey, I wanted to test out their signature meals, nuggets from Chick-fil-A and tenders from Raising Canes, to see how these well known competitors compared to each other. From Chick-fil-A, I got the chicken nuggets and fries with a side of Chick-fil-A sauce. From Canes, I got the chicken tenders, fries, and Canes’s sauce.

Chick-fil-A and Canes each have a factor in their chicken that makes it as popular and appealing as it is. Chick-fil-A’s nuggets had a vast amount of flavor in both the chicken and breading, however didn’t have a noticeable crunch. On the other hand, the Canes tender’s crispiness and crunch level was one I hadn’t seen in a tender or nugget before. What was most enjoyable about the Canes meal was their sauce, which had a tangy and salty flavor bringing the chicken tenders to the next level. The Chick-fil-A sauce isn’t one that stands out to me, and has an average flavor that I personally don’t think adds anything to the chicken nugget.

While there were certain qualities that were enjoyable about each chicken item, for the place’s fries, there was a clear winner in my mind. The Cane’s french fries had no crispness and didn’t possess any flavor. After taking one bite of the fry, I had no interest in eating more. The Chick-fil-A fries left me with a completely different opinion. While Cane’s fries are crinkle-cut, Chick-fil-A has waffle fries. These waffle fries have an abundance of crispiness and saltiness in them. After taking one bite of each fry, it was obvious that the Chick-fil-A fry was the only one worth taking another bite of.

Instead of picking which I think is the best out of these two places, I believe having both Chick-fil-A and Canes here will be the best option, having a choice of crunchiness with a flavorful sauce, or having a well seasoned option where a sauce is a personal choice.