In the almost 20 years they've been in existence, chicken rings have stealthily achieved status
as a unique and immediately recognizable fast food icon. Here's everything you need to know
about the signature item most identified with White Castle after its legendary sliders.
Judging by the lack of searchable information surrounding the invention of White Castle's
chicken rings, you'd think that they were immaculately conceived. In the absence of
a dedicated chicken ring backstory, White Castle produced a viral video based on a "long-standing
urban myth" about "O" shaped chickens that ran around with gaping holes in their middles.
In reality, what is known about these iconic rings made from 100-percent white chicken meat,
is that they were initially launched by White Castle in 2002.
Although they can also be ordered between two buns as a slider,
they've been most popular as a side. Available in three, six, nine, and 20-piece servings,
their high dunkability rating explains why they're accompanied by a variety of dipping sauces.
Hamburgers ruled the fast food roost until the late 1970s. In 1977,
the U.S. government released its first-ever dietary guidelines, which advised Americans to
consume less fat and red meat. As a consequence, consumers panicked, and burger sales plummeted.
Fast food chains frantically searched for a less threatening alternative and landed
on protein-rich chicken. At the forefront of the search was McDonald's, which scored
enormously with McNuggets. Available nationwide in 1983, they quickly became a global phenomenon.
Burger rivals quickly hopped onto the nugget bandwagon. Burger King
released its own version in 1985 and Wendy's followed with crispy chicken nuggets in 1986.
As for White Castle, according to The New York Times, the fast food pioneer
sought to attract younger customers while also attempting to shake the slider legacy
of "gut busters" and "belly bombers." In 1988, it tested its own version of nuggets,
though it mysteriously took another 14 years before chicken rings hit the market.
Despite the presence of 100 percent white meat, chicken rings' high levels of fat,
sodium, and carbs make them decidedly unsuitable from a nutritional standpoint.
Even though chicken rings and chicken nuggets share a common ancestry and product DNA,
White Castle has played up the rivalry between its signature rings and its competitors' nuggets.
Recently, the slider king added fuel to the feud by releasing the results
of a nationwide survey of White Castle email subscribers conducted in June 2020.
According to the survey's findings, 87 percent of the respondents preferred
White Castle chicken rings over their, quote, "amorphous chicken counterpart." They claimed
they were tastier, more "craveable," and even more shareable than nuggets.
While White Castle's loyal "Craver Nation" may be devoutly Team Chicken Ring,
the general populace is less enthusiastic. On Ranker, chicken rings recently ranked 25th out
of 28 edible White Castle items, even though the chicken ring slider came in seventh. Food sites
also tend to toss White Castle's rings to the lower depths of its fast food nugget rankings.
While citing their plumpness and dip-ability, Eater ranked them sixth out of nine candidates.
Even less impressed, websites Mashed and Fast Food were united in ranking the rings last.
Perhaps in response to the so-called blandness, White Castle has made numerous attempts to pump up
the chicken ring flavor. Over the years, the fast food chain has rolled out limited-time variants,
including Buffalo, Hidden Valley Ranch, and Tabasco. Not to be confused with dipping sauces,
the flavoring in these chicken rings allegedly comes from flavor powder,
which is poured into a bag of freshly fried rings and shaken up.
In an effort to mix up not just the traditional chicken ring flavor but its texture as well,
in 2016, White Castle decided to get in on what Brand Eating dubbed the "pretzel trend."
Another limited-time experiment, White Castle's pretzel chicken rings were actually breaded with
crunchy little chunks of pretzel, minus the sprinkling of rock salt. Eater referred to
them as a hybrid of three completely unrelated foods, which tasted neither like chicken nor
pretzels and were meaninglessly donut-shaped. Although the pretzel crunchiness earned praise,
Eater's reviewer decried the lack of a pretzel's essential "maltiness and saltiness,"
which made the limited-time-only treat, quote, "uniquely awful."
It might seem like a culinary contradiction to think that scarfing down a White Castle chicken
ring slider can be both good and bad for you. However, in a nutritional breakdown commissioned
by Eat This, Not That!, registered dietician Staci Gulbin managed to make a convincing case.
First, the good news: Gulbin deemed the chicken ring slider with cheese one of
the "best" of White Castle's meal options. Despite the not-so-reassuring presence of two
breaded chicken rings, Gulbin countered that the moderate levels of calories,
fat, and sodium in the sandwich make it a "decent" choice.
Things get worse, fast, when it comes to the crispy chicken ring slider with cheese,
however. Who would have thought that the word "crispy" could do so much damage?
Apparently it does so by radically upping the levels of sodium from 470 mg to 620 mg.
Moral of the menu: If you're in a nutritious state of mind, avoid the "crispy."
Like all fast food joints worth their salt, White Castle has a secret menu. One fan-favorite hack is
called the cowboy slider, which involves ordering a chicken ring slider, a side of onion rings,
and BBQ sauce. First, remove the top bun, then become Master of the Rings by piling crispy onion
rings on top of the crispy chicken rings. From there, turn up the heat by dousing all those rings
with sauce before placing the bun back on top and taking a big Texas-sized bite out of that cowboy.
[laughter]
Another favorite hack is breakfast-themed, courtesy of White Castle's all-day breakfast
policy. It pairs an order of chicken rings with mini Belgian waffles, which come with an essential
side of syrup. Make a sandwich by arranging the rings between the two waffles, pour on the syrup,
then let your day begin, regardless of the hour. Incidentally, when Thrillist originally thought
up this hack in 2015, it was created with the now-discontinued French toast sticks in mind.
Faced with a constant tide of criticism questioning the mere existence of a
ring-shaped chicken nugget, White Castle has relentlessly defended its trademark poultry
treat by defiantly playing up its similarities to actual bling. In 2019, White Castle went
so far as to team up with Dr. Pepper to create the Ring Thing Giveaway. Customers
who ordered chicken rings and a soft drink were automatically entered into a sweepstakes
with prizes that included 400 coupons for sliders and 100 pairs of chicken ring earrings.
The grandest prize of all, however, was a "halo-style" diamond ring worth $5,000, whose
key design feature was a dead ringer for White Castle's crispy chicken treat. The engagement
vibe wasn't lost on the fast food company, whose executives take pride in the fact that its chicken
rings have played a central role in many marriage proposals within White Castle restaurants.
Jamie Richardson, vice president of the family-owned company
confessed to Restaurant Business,
"It's not uncommon to have great memories made, whether it's wedding
proposals or actual weddings [...] They can always use Chicken Rings."
Jamie Richardson has been with White Castle since 1999 and, according to The Ringer,
he's a sucker for love in a fast food setting. As detailed in The Atlantic, White Castle is actually
the scene for a lot of, quote, "royal" weddings, many of which take place on Valentine's Day.
This isn't just because many couples love sliders and chicken rings or because White Castle offers
a pretty cheap venue. It's also due to the fact that the chain actively seeks out engaged couples,
going so far as to enlist local radio stations to track down candidates.
No White Castle wedding seems complete without the symbolic edible rings. They
were prominent at Mariana and Jasmine's 2015 Bronx wedding as well as a 2012 Indianapolis
wedding where guests could choose between ranch chicken rings and jalapeno cheese sliders.
Then there was Adam, who grew up in Queens, where he developed a, quote, "deeply engrained
love" for White Castle. Before tying the knot with Whitney, the other love of his life,
Adam took his fiancée to White Castle for the first time where, as he told Brides,
"She immediately fell for the Chicken Rings."
Happily, she still had enough love left over to tie the knot with Adam at
a White Castle destination wedding in Las Vegas.
One of the more original fast food promotions in recent years took place in 2018 when White
Castle staged what Ad Age described as, quote, an "impressively authentic" home
shopping event on Facebook Live. Riffing on QVC-style jewelry pitches, the White Castle
stunt featured Heather and Janelle, played by two improv actresses with seriously flip-able hair.
While trading lots of eye rolls and juicy ring puns, they spent some 45 minutes hilariously
hyping and hawking White Castle chicken rings, complete with a quartet of dipping sauces.
"Let's get saucy, Heather."
Along the way, there were supporting cameos from Sarah the chicken ring model,
Doug the ring appraiser, and Dylan, the ideal boyfriend who excitedly confessed he was about
to propose marriage to his girlfriend at White Castle with — what else? — a chicken ring.
Heather and Janelle also responded in real-time to comments from an audience of
over 50,000 viewers who tuned in to watch the live stream. On YouTube, a condensed
30-second version of the mock advertisement was posted and received over 2.3 million views.
Who would have guessed that a ring-shaped, deep-fried chicken nugget made by an Ohio-based
burger joint would become the muse of one of New York City's most avant-garde fashion authorities?
Considered one of America's most important young designers, Telfar Clemens grew up eating at White
Castle in his native Queens. The experience nourished him to the extent that he not only
redesigned some 12,000 new and genderless uniforms for employees at 400 locations,
but he also features White Castle-inspired garb in his own collections. There was also
the time he single-handedly revived New York Fashion Week's after-party
scene by holding a party at a White Castle in Times Square. Vice's i-D described it as an
"astounding, exceptional, and endlessly inspiring party."
DJ Michael Magnan had tunes booming behind the counter while staff circulated with sliders and
chicken rings. In 2019, the beloved rings turned up once again at the actual show.
In fact, as i-D observed, the synergy between Telfar and White Castle
is best expressed by the restaurant's most, quote, "awkward" menu item.
Other conventional chicken nuggets try to disguise their so-called "further processed" origins.
The unapologetic chicken ring, on the other hand, makes no such pretense, becoming the
perfect symbol for Telfar's no-nonsense, yet celebratory vision of everyday America.
It turns out that, contrary to common perception, White Castle is not only fashion-forward,
but in the tech vanguard. In 2020, the fast food chain marked its 99th year in business
by announcing a partnership with Miso Robotics, creator of Flippy the Robot.
At White Castle, Flippy will be operating several frying stations. If everything goes according to
plan, it will soon be responsible for the timely hotness and crispiness of your chicken rings.
Although White Castle's negotiations with Miso began in 2019, COVID-19 has made robots even
more attractive as restaurants are restructuring to minimize contact. Moreover, robots can tackle
kitchen tasks — such as deep frying — that can be both dangerous and tiring, not to mention
boringly repetitive. In a July 2020 interview with The Spoon, White Castle Vice President Jamie
Richardson announced that Flippy would be starting work soon at an undisclosed Chicago location.
Commenting on the robot's importance during pandemic times, Richardson said,
"A new hire like Flippy frees us up to have team members do other things like delivery."
It remains to be seen if the new robot-fried chicken rings will
taste differently than the human-fried version.
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