I think we can all agree that chicken nuggets are a sacred food. The life-force behind America, we eat them day in and day out, savoring the one-of-a-kind taste. Although every nugget has a special place in my heart, as a chicken nugget enthusiast, I set out on a personal quest to find which nugget reigned supreme.

Could it be McDonald’s famous McNuggets, with their weirdly uniform shape and unnaturally white meat? Or could it be Chick-Fil-A’s nuggets, blessed with the support of divinity, I’m convinced?

Personally, I’ve always found Wendy’s nuggets to be the best. Consider that they are all a good size. (You can shove, like, three in your mouth at once but any more than that is probable death.) With Wendy’s offering, the breading isn’t overwhelming but certainly has a presence, and the chicken has that touch of artificial-ness that carefully toes the line between actual chicken and chemical product. With my well formulated opinions in tow, it was time to hit the streets. Of North Atlanta, that is.

According to sophomore Jack Yanoshik, Arby’s nuggets can’t be beat. “A little known fact about Arby’s is they actually sell chicken nuggets, and another little known fact is they are pretty good.”

Freshman Grace McCaffrey had a different opinion. “Chick-Fil-A is the best. They actually taste like real chicken, unlike other places like McDonalds,” she said. Oof. Low blow.

The nugget biz seems like a hard one to break into. My peers present some harsh judgment on the quality they demand from their nuggets. Rising above the power and prestige of nugget empires like Chick-Fil-A, McDonalds, and Sonic is a never-ending challenge.

Senior Sara Beth Cimowsky commented, “I’m a vegetarian and I think Zaxby’s has the best nuggets. If I were starving and about to kill someone and I had to eat meat, I’d go to Zaxby’s,” she said.

Unfortunately, because Cimowsky is a vegetarian and has not been enlightened on the technicalities of the anatomy of a chicken nugget, she is unaware that Zaxby’s actually does not sell chicken nuggets. (A tragedy. Get your act together Zaxby’s.) Zaxby’s, however, does sell the less beloved “chicken fingers” and “chicken wings,” both of which pale in comparison to the nugget. Their corporate ideas and plan go beyond me, for what kind of chicken joint would ever go nugget-less? Anyways.

After consulting a few more of my classmates, I came to the conclusion that Chick-Fil-A’s nuggets are the most favored by a landslide. It could be due to the close proximity Chick-Fil-A has to our school, or the fact that many of our Warriors are employed at Chick-Fil-A, or maybe the taste is truly better than its competition. This surprised me, especially because of the higher cost of the nuggets and their smaller size.

It is clear that the Warriors have strong opinions on chicken nuggets, if nothing else. In a world of countless impossible decisions and uncertainties, I am thankful that we, at the very least, know our nuggets.