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Food rant: Chicken tenders on a bun is not a sandwich.
Controversial but brave opinion: the explosion of “hot chicken” as a food trend has given rise to some very bad “sandwiches.”
Listen, I love fried chicken. Most people do. Seven or eight years ago when I lived in LA it seemed there was a new “hot chicken” restaurant opening every week — some with long lines that were even worth standing in. Some places have great chicken sandwiches and some have great chicken tenders, but one terrible trend I’ve noticed lately is nouveau chicken places putting a chicken tender on a bun and calling it a sandwich.
I’m sorry, no. Please stop this. A chicken tender is a cylinder. A bun is round. They do not make sense together on that basis alone, let alone when you try to introduce slaw or veggies. They just fall out the sides! That’s not a sandwich, it’s a mess! My modest proposal: chicken tendies should just be chicken tendies. Sandwich chicken should be roughly patty-shaped. As in, a boneless thigh, a pounded cutlet, or a breast sliced horizontally. A place where veggies can lay!
I’m not going to say where I got this, partly to keep from throwing anyone under the bus, partly because I don’t remember, but I do remember it cost me upwards of $20.
A travesty. Never again.
Anyway, this week on FAT City, we’ve got a ranking of local olive oils, Fresno’s best shawarmas, and most importantly, a taco guide. Because FAT, as we all know, stands for “Fresno Adores Tacos.” No one does it like us.
— Vince Mancini, Contributing Editor, Food
Local food news: Cabezón, Eggbred, and (more) fried chicken
- Anyone else keeping up with Tacos El Cabezón, the taco vendor who took over the corner at Shaw and Maroa and recently moved downtown? There were waves of successive rumors, first that the business was shady, then that the owner (Armando Arias, Jr.) was missing. Now he’s been found and is reportedly safe, but his restaurants are closed and per the Bee, he’s been hit with a $507K court order. “An attorney involved in the case tells FOX26 Arias took out a loan and failed to pay it back. Court documents do not specify what the loan or debt was for.” Last night I thought I saw an Instagram post about the restaurant being open today, but now it’s gone. Arias also appears to have a GoFundMe. The situation is… evolving.
[Fresno Bee, KMPH] - Eggbred is coming to Clovis! What’s Eggbred, you ask? A kitschy-sounding fast-casual breakfast place, from the sounds of it. “Popular menu items include a loaded “Scramble Me Softly” breakfast sandwich, which is filled with buttery French-style, softly scrambled eggs, as well as country fried chicken and gravy sandwich and a breakfast poutine.” Are those commas in the right place? Unclear. Anyway, more breakfast place better, imo. [TheBusinessJournal]
- More Korean fried chicken, coming to the Southeast! bb.q [sic], a restaurant whose stock punctuation hurts my brain but whose chicken is pretty decent, is opening a second location near Kings Canyon Road and Clovis Avenue in the Southeast. The first is at Shaw and Willow. Sadly, neither are all that close to me. As the Bee notes, bb.q, with 3,500 locations globally, is a step above the crop of ubiquitous trendy chicken tendie joints. Read to the bottom of the link to see the Bee’s insanely thorough coverage of KFC closings.
[Fresno Bee] - Libelula is “fighting to keep the doors open.” High-speed rail construction is putting the pinch on downtown parking. I hope they figure things out, but in the meantime: it’s Fresno. You can easily find a spot a block or two away and still eat there. Use your legs.
[Fresno Bee] - Tower Porch Fest is this weekend! Not strictly food-related, but people who eat like to do stuff too. Josh Tehee has your breakdown.
[Bandgeeeek]
Why is it so good? Well, pork chops are usually dry, underseasoned, and finicky to cook. Turns out, pounding them flat solves all of those problems. The marinade seasons them all the way through (I usually let mine go at least overnight) and you can cook them to a healthy medium without them drying out. It’s like magic! If you don’t have an air fryer, sticking them under an electric broiler works just as well. Here’s one I made:
— Vince Mancini, Contributing Editor, Food
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This week’s FAT City was edited by Danielle Bergstrom.
