McDonald’s Is Testing An All-New Menu Item & Reviews Are Mixed

Another day, another new McDonald’s menu item. The fast food restaurant seems to be on a relentless mission at the moment to see what new spins on its items will stick with customers, and at the top of 2026, it’s been investing heavily in its fried chicken. A couple of weeks ago, McDonald’s began testing several new chicken items in a few stores in Chicago, featuring a selection that included two chicken sandwiches (a Deluxe Grilled Chicken Sandwich and a BBQ Bacon Grilled Chicken Sandwich, for those of you wondering), as well as bone-in breaded wings.

There was one new McDonald’s menu item, though, that really caught everyone’s eye: Its all-new McCrispy Tenders. The only problem? It was eye-catching because customers felt like they’d seen them before.

McDonald’s New McCrispy Tenders Bear A Striking Resemblance To An Existing Menu Item

The restaurant’s new McCrispy Tenders aren’t strictly a Popeyes dupe, but it’s hard to get around the feeling that McDonald’s is cashing in on the chicken tenders trend that’s been dominating fast food for the last few years. These hand-breaded chicken strips are covered in a thick, breaded, knobbled coating, which sets them apart from the restaurant’s existing McCrispy Strips (those have a slightly lighter, smoother tempura batter that feels almost like the coating on grocery store fried shrimp). 

So far, so good – but the only problem is that they feel a little too similar to a former McDonald’s menu item for McDonald’s to strictly claim that they’re brand-new. Avid McDonald’s watchers will notice that its McCrispy Tenders look just like its Chicken Selects, an item that was removed from its permanent US menu back in 2013, before making a reappearance under a different name – Buttermilk Crispy Tenders – and then once again discontinued. Buttermilk Crispy Tenders show up every now and again in certain stores, and over in the UK, Chicken Selects are still available. 

Customers Aren’t All Totally Sold On McCrispy Tenders

Because the McCrispy Tenders are still only available in a select few stores, not a lot of people have managed to try them just yet. Those that have, though, don’t seem to all be rushing to sing their praises. In a video on TikTok, two food reviewers with the handle @2sisters1bite_ sampled the tenders, with one of them giving them a 10/10 and the other giving them a (slightly more muted) 8 out of 10 rating. What they do both agree on, though, is that the McCrispy Tenders are “better than the nuggies.” 

Other customers, though, are definitely questioning whether these are truly a new item, because they just look so darn similar to those Chicken Selects. Commenters over on Snackolator’s Facebook post about the tenders are also feeling a little suspicious about how truthful the restaurant’s claims about the chicken being hand-breaded are. “Hand breaded with a human hand or robotic arms…” one person stated. Hey, if that arm has a hand on it, then…we guess it’s still true?