There’s A Food Festival Dedicated Entirely To Chicken Tenders With Unlimited Tastings

Chicken tenders getting their own festival was only a matter of time. The undefeated combination of crispy breading, juicy chicken, and something saucy to drag it through has carried generations on its back, and TenderFest is giving one of America’s most beloved foods a full 10 hours in the spotlight.

TenderFest is taking over the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills on Saturday, September 19, for an all-you-can-eat celebration of “all things pounded, breaded, and fried.” The lineup brings together restaurants from completely different corners of LA’s food world, which means you can spend the same afternoon eating chicken tenders from Pizzeria Mozza, Dave’s Hot Chicken, Delilah, Marvin, Le Coupé, Box Chicken, Raising Cane’s, Chimmelier, and Tendercrush.

That is an objectively ridiculous amount of tender talent in one place.

TenderFest is leaning all the way into the high-low of it, too. There will be a roaming Sauce Squad armed with dips, casual celebrity sightings befitting a food festival in the middle of Beverly Hills, and desserts from Henry’s Secret Ice Cream, All About The Cinnamon, and Gone Bananas Bread.

Then there’s the ConTENDER Competition, where some serious restaurants get to find out what happens when you hand them one of the most universally understood foods in America and tell them to stunt.

Miya Miya, Jitlada, Petit Trois, and Lucia will each bring their own riff on the chicken tender, with a cash prize for the winner going to the charity of their choice. That alone would make for a hell of a cook-off, but take a look at who has to judge these things: Nancy Silverton, Cat Cora, Tim Hollingsworth, Los Angeles Rams stars Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams, and real estate executive Jay Luchs.

TenderFest runs from noon to 10 p.m. at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills. Tickets are available through Tixr.