One of our favorite meals at Kings Island is the hand breaded chicken tenders from Chicken Shack. Marinated for 24 hours and then hand tossed in batter before frying and served with a terrific chipotle mayonnaise.
So during a recent visit to Kings Island, we decided to stage a good, old fashioned chicken tender battle: Reds Hall of Fame Grille versus Chicken Shack. Both locations serve a version of the hand breaded chicken tenders style versus the frozen, pre-made versions sold elsewhere across the park.
The Reds Hall of Fame Home Run Chicken Tenders consist of hand battered chicken tenders served with Saratoga chips and your choice of BBQ or honey mustard sauce for $11.19.
Heading across the park, the Chicken Shack serves a 3 chicken tenders combo meal which is served with fries and a slice of garlic toast for $15.59.
Both locations chicken tenders are included on the meal plans, making them the go-to locations.
The first difference is the number of chicken tenders served with each meal. Those served at Reds include 4 tenders versus the 3 received at Chicken Shack.
Those served at Reds receive fresh cut chips versus the fries at Chicken Shack.
Lastly, the sauces are quite different, getting Montgomery Inn BBQ sauce at Reds versus the chipotle mayo at Chicken Shack.
Reds Hall of Fame Chicken Tenders
Chicken Shack Tenders
Honestly, both hand breaded chicken tender meal were very good, though each has their own benefits. The hand cut chips at Reds are far superior than the fries at Chicken Shack. The tenders served at Chicken Shack always appear to be much more tender, assuming they receive the 24 marinade versus those over at Reds. The chipotle mayo at Chicken Shack also gets the slight edge over the BBQ sauce at Reds. Finally, we always really enjoy the garlic toast, as it is a thick, hearty piece of bread that is perfectly toasted.
Do you prefer one locations chicken tenders over the other?
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Ate at reds today, Sunday May 7th, you only get 3 tenders and our food was ice cold. We told an employee who said OK and never came back. Worst place in the park.