A glimpse at any fast food chicken place will let you know that sometimes, you crave a piece of chicken that’s perfect for dipping.
Enter the chicken finger. Or, chicken tenders as they’re similarly called.
The Puritan Backroom, a restaurant in Manchester, New Hampshire claims they invented chicken tenders in 1974, but herbs and spices website The Epicentre points to numerous places where food blogger Janice Brown disputes that claim.
Regardless of how the crispy, meaty morsels came to be, Eat This, Not That has collected the restaurants where you can get the best ones in every state.
“They are salty, usually slightly greasy, and great comfort food,” the website said. “You feed them to your kids because they never complain, but you’d secretly be just as satisfied to have them yourself. You know what I’m talking about: chicken fingers. The veritable childhood favorite is an easy dish—no messy bones to eat around but still full of the satisfying saltiness of fried food.”
In Georgia, you won’t find the best chicken tenders in a chicken spot, however. Eat This, Not That says the best ones are actually in a Savannah pizza joint.
Spanky’s Pizza Galley & Saloon is near the Savannah River and it’s here that Georgians can consume the top tenders the state has to offer.
While it may seem surprising at first based on the name, visit the website and you’ll discover that Spanky’s proclaims it’s home of the original chicken tender.
The story goes that Alben Yarbroug was adamant about including a chicken sandwich on the menu. However, the chicken was bigger than the bun. Yarbroug trimmed the edges off so that the chicken could fit. Then, he took the trimmings and tossed them in a seasoned breading before frying. The results were Spanky’s Original Chicken Fingers.
“Whatever you believe about the origin of the chicken finger, you should travel down South and sample this version,” Eat This, Not That said. “Not only can you have a view of the river and River Street’s famous bacchanalia while you eat, you can get a basket of fingers, spuds, and a pickle served with the best honey sauce this writer has ever tried. Visitors and locals are addicted and the Home of the Original Chicken Finger is certainly worth the trip.”
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