Drive-Thru Gourmet
Burger King rubs pepper in Wendy's wounds with Spicy Chicken Nuggets
This week I reached out for the biggest bargain in Drive-Thru Land, a 10-piece box of Spicy Chicken Nuggets, new from the pickpockets at Burger King, with 13,000 restaurants 'round the world.
Uh, didn't Wendy's just discontinue their own Spicy Chicken Nuggets and catch a lot of heat from customers? Burger King isn't just picking up Wendy's pieces, the King is rubbing salt — and lots of pepper — in Wendy's wound. For instance, giving away free Spicy Chicken Nuggets to anybody named Wendy in key markets and declaring a nuggets Twitter war. Oh, it's on, all right.
Here's the Spicy Chicken Nuggets from Burger King breakdown: 10 nuggets made from 100-percent white breast meat, dunked in peppery breading and plunked in the deep-fryer. Served with any two of BK's dipping sauces. It is the opinion of this court that Ranch and Buffalo are your smart plays.
Total calories: 530 (for all 10 nuggets). Fat grams: 37. Sodium: 1,420 mg. Carbs: 28 g. Dietary fiber: 2 g. Protein: 20 g. Manufacturer's suggested retail price: $1.49.
Here's the deal, and it's the best deal — 10 nuggets for $1.49. If you're nuggets person, or have small ones in the back seat, everybody gets full for a few bucks. We're talking fried chicken for the price of fried potatoes.
BK's nuggets are straight up excellent, every bit the quality and taste you find for nearly twice the price in other drive-thrus These are made with chewed 'n' glued particle board chicken, but that stigma is gone since McDonald's went on a publicity campaign defending its McNuggets.
Burger King isn't taking too much of a gamble with Spicy Chicken Nuggets. The King's Fiery Chicken Fries have proved a solid seller, so what's to worry about Spicy Chicken Nuggets? Bottom line: nuggets are the better buy.
Spicy Chicken Nuggets have a reddish tint to signify heat. It's also how you tell them apart from BK's original Chicken Nuggets,
As beef prices soar, chicken becomes a bigger and more important factor at Burger King. Consider that BK now offers two kinds of nuggets, Crispy Buffalo Chicken Melt, Chicken Parmesan Sandwich, BBQ Bacon Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Bacon and Cheese Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Grilled Chicken Sandwich, two kinds of Chicken Fries and Original Chicken Sandwich.
Almost forgot ... Burger King sells burgers, too.