This Southern Chicken Chain's Tenders Have Become Unexpectedly Controversial

There are few experiences more disappointing — or more likely to engender rage in a passionate customer base — that when a beloved fast food item changes for the worse. This is the risky gamble many chains take whenever they alter a standard recipe, and such a controversy appears to have befallen the regional Southern favorite, Bojangles, the chicken tenders of which have drawn the ire of its erstwhile devotees.

For those outside the Southern U.S., Bojangles has come a long way since its founding in 1977, specializing in biscuits and fried chicken. It operates 72 restaurants across its home turf of Eastern North Carolina and the greater Richmond area, but beyond that, the chain's 600-plus total locations spread as far afield as Honduras — and Bojangles plans to expand even further. Made from all-white chicken meat and hand-breaded in a Cajun-inspired seasoning blend, we ranked Bojangles' chicken tenders as the best fast food chicken tenders on offer, deeming them "spicy yet comforting, thickly breaded yet balanced, and satisfyingly crisp yet juicy."

However, that position has become controversial online. On one Reddit thread from last year, a user claimed disappointment after having visited four different Virginia locations. "What used to be a very tasty and relatively simple chicken tender has been reduced to a jumbled mess of fat and breading," the user explained. "They're not just bad, they're disgusting." Another Redditor responded by describing the Bojangles Supremes as "literally inedible," comparing them to "stringy dog treats." Yet another user chimed in to comment that "the tenders are completely terrible," and were now a "different food completely" from what the chain offered before.

The root of the controversy may lie in the replacement (at some Bojangles locations) of the Boneless Chicken Supremes with Bo's Chicken Tenders. While some were angered by this, preferring the old-school Supremes, others prefer the new tenders, emphasizing that (unlike the Supremes) the tenders were freshly made and hand-breaded rather than arriving frozen and pre-breaded. Meanwhile, others still have voiced their displeasure at the fact that not every Bojangles location sells bone-in chicken.

To understand the passion any perceived drop in the quality of Bojangles can inspire, you must understand that the franchise has an unusually devoted fanbase — so much so that the company itself even has coined the term "Bo Fanatics" for those who simply refuse to get their fried chicken anywhere else. Speaking to Our State in 2017, former Bojangles CEO Clifton Rutledge said that, though his colleagues hate when he described the intense following this way, "Bojangles is a good cult."

Another factor which differentiates Bojangles from its fast food rivals is the very variability which of its customers have complained about. While other fast food franchises offer consistency across every location, "Bo Fanatics" will engage in feverish debate over which Bojangles restaurant is the best. In fact, one Reddit thread attracted over 200 responses to this very question. This kind of enthusiasm, along with controversies regarding the chicken tenders, could be considered the price of success. And yet, because of that success, it is unlikely that Bojangles will cease to be a Southern institution any time soon.