McDonald's rolled out revamped McCrispy Strips with a new panko breading and a limited-time Caesar Sauce on July 21, but early customer reviews are split, and a similar chicken-tender push from Costco's food court is drawing its own skeptics.
The fast-food giant pitched the five-piece strips as a crispier, improved version of its old chicken tenders, promising what the company called an "even crispier" bite built on customer feedback. McDonald's paired the strips with a new Caesar Sauce dipping cup and folded them into a broader summer menu that also includes a Caesar Snack Wrap and a Bacon Caesar McCrispy Sandwich. The chain described the combination as "perfect for the ultimate bite and dunk into that savory Caesar Sauce cup."
Within a day, customers on Reddit were already picking the new strips apart, and the verdict was far from unanimous.
McDonald's discontinued its original Chicken Selects nationwide in 2013, and the strips' return has been a long time coming. But the panko-coated replacement did not win over everyone who remembered the originals.
One Reddit user on the r/McDonalds forum tried the new strips and posted a blunt assessment:
"Nothing is going to taste like the food back in the day. That what we all have to realize."
Another customer offered a more detailed review, praising the sauce but faulting the chicken itself:
"Just had them today, decent taste but the chicken texture seemed kind of reconstituted. Cesar dressing was yummy but kind of wish that had been cold for contrast."
The pattern is familiar. McDonald's has spent the past year leaning hard on nostalgia to bring customers back through the door. The chain brought back its Snack Wrap on July 10 after discontinuing it in 2016, responding to years of online petitions and social media pressure. That relaunch offered only two flavors, Ranch and Spicy, with fried chicken only, a simplified version of the old menu designed to keep kitchen operations manageable.
McDonald's U.S. President Joe Erlinger framed the Snack Wrap return as proof the company listens to its fans. But one loyal customer, Alicia Force, captured the anxiety many longtime McDonald's eaters feel about these revivals:
"Hopefully, they come back and they taste the same, and they don't break my heart again, quite frankly."
The McCrispy Strips relaunch carries the same risk. Customers wanted the old product back. What they got is a new product wearing the old product's name, with a panko coating that did not exist on the original Chicken Selects.
McDonald's is not the only chain betting on chicken tenders this summer. Costco added a five-piece chicken strips option to its food court, priced at $6.99. The warehouse club's version comes with a dipping sauce but, in the United States, does not include French fries. Canadian Costco locations do include fries with the order.
The calorie count alone raised eyebrows. Costco's five-piece order clocks in at 1,640 calories, easily more than half the daily calories recommended for the average person. By comparison, McDonald's five McCrispy Strips come in at 667 calories before dipping sauces. That is a gap of nearly a thousand calories for roughly the same number of pieces.
Costco's tenders are baked rather than fried, which might sound healthier on paper. The calorie count tells a different story. The chain has built a reputation on budget-friendly food court staples like its famous $1.50 hot dog and soda combo. But $6.99 for a 1,640-calorie plate of baked chicken strips sits in a different category entirely.
Reddit users weighed in on the Costco tenders, too. One shopper who claimed to have tried them said the tenders were "huge" and "really good," adding that they planned to air fry them next time for extra crispiness. But another user pushed back on the portion size:
"I wish I could do two or three chicken strips for half the price. I know myself, five is way too many."
And at least one commenter had no interest in chicken tenders at all, posting: "Please just give me the combo pizza back, especially with no calzone option." Costco's food court menu changes have generated their own streak of customer frustration, separate from anything McDonald's is doing.
The chicken-tender arms race is not happening in a vacuum. McDonald's same-store sales fell 3.6 percent in the first quarter compared to the prior year. U.S. fast-food traffic dropped 1 percent from January through April. Inflation-weary consumers are spending less on eating out, and competition in the chicken category has intensified, with Popeyes, Burger King, and Wendy's all pushing their own chicken wrap and tender offerings.
McDonald's response has been a summer-long nostalgia blitz. The Snack Wrap came back July 10. The McCrispy Strips followed on July 21. The chain also revived its Caesar Sauce as part of the broader push. Each move is designed to remind customers of a time when they ate at McDonald's more often, and liked it more.
Whether that strategy works depends on whether the new versions live up to the memory. The early Reddit reviews suggest the McCrispy Strips are decent but not a home run. The panko coating delivers on crunch, but the chicken itself drew complaints about texture. The Caesar Sauce earned praise, but its limited-time status means it may not stick around long enough to build a habit.
McDonald's has not disclosed the price of the five-piece McCrispy Strips, and it remains unclear whether the Caesar Sauce will become a permanent menu item. The chain has a pattern of bringing back fan favorites, generating a wave of attention, and then quietly pulling them again. Customers who have watched that cycle play out before have reason to be cautious. The company has also faced scrutiny over pricing practices on its value menu that left some customers feeling misled.
Costco's chicken tender launch raises its own unanswered questions. The rollout date has not been confirmed publicly, and it is unclear whether the $6.99 tenders are available at every U.S. location or only in select markets.
McDonald's has also leaned into reviving discontinued items beyond chicken. The chain brought back its Fried Apple Pie after more than three decades, another move aimed squarely at customers who remember the old menu and want it back.
Both chains are chasing the same customer: someone who wants familiar comfort food at a price that does not sting. McDonald's is betting on memory. Costco is betting on bulk. Neither has proven the bet pays off yet.
When your turnaround strategy depends on making people feel the way they felt twenty years ago, the food has to deliver, not just the marketing.