Fuzzy Nugget Math

I can’t stand McDonald’s, but even I can appreciate a good loophole when I see one. Jennifer 8 Lee has discovered that buying chicken McNuggets in 4 piece ($1) increments is far cheaper than buying a box of 10 (for $4) or 20 (for $7.) Of course we are all too aware of the fact that fast food chains are not so good at math.

20 Comments

  • I am puzzled by that every time I get chicken nuggets. I feel like people are being penalized for not being good at math. However, it is a hassle to say “4 orders of 4 pc nuggets”.

  • Haha. It’s one of my fav deals at McD’s.
    I had to cheapskate-math my friend one day. He wanted a 20 pieces box. I’m like just order 5 of the 4 pieces. No reason to throw away money.

    I no longer bother with Mickey D’s food unless they have good deals. When I do have that fast food craving, I get their nuggets, parfait and iced coffee. I’ve had to suppress my Big Mac attack. Oh well.

  • the joys of arbitrage. if only we could buy the 4pc boxes and re-package & sell them back to the stores as 10pc boxes, we could put all the damn mcd’s out of business!

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    Do ANY of the midtown McD’s have 4pc nuggets for a buck? Methinks not. I don’t even think that the 4pc nuggets are part of the canonical dollar menu, much less the pathetic midtown version of the dollar menu.

  • I think it depends on the McD’s in the city. You have to go to the ghettoey ones to get the true dollar menu items. Gotta look around for them but they should be a few of them, unlike queens where it’s most certain a buck + tax.

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    McD’s on 8th ave between 43rd and 44th st has $1 for 4 pc nuggets.
    I snuck five boxes into the theater. LOL

  • @viktor – that’s right near the New York Times offices. i figured there must have been one near that building for Jennifer to have written the piece.

  • i thought this 4 piece chicken nugget thing was common knowledge… i guess now

    and the 47th & 7th location has this deal as well

  • i guess *not*, not now

  • Exactly what part of the chicken is the nugget?

  • @Fred. It is a combination of the chicken butt, foot cartiledge and left over scraps from the manufacturing of the real chicken sandwhiches. Shredded newspaper and select spices are added before they shred it all up, bleach it and coat it with flour and deep fry to a golden brown.

  • @wslee00
    This just goes to show you that Jennifer 8 Lee doesn’t eat at McDonald’s. Ever since my first job in midtown in 2005, various McDonald’s in the area had the 4 piece for a $1 and it’s always been a better deal than getting 10 or 20. This also used to be 6 piece for $1 until this deal got newyork-ized and became 4 piece for $1.

    So yea, I know my McDonald’s.

  • I just figgered it hadda be a part, you know: breast, leg, wing, thigh, nugget

  • A few years back, McDonald’s started claiming their nuggets are all white meat now, so I’m going to guess it’s scraps of breast meat leftover from making the more expensive chicken sandwiches or something?

    Also, because I was a nugget fiend in high school, they used to have dark meat nuggets (juicier, generally the more circular/round ones) and ‘white meat’ or lighter ones, which were the oblong ones with a little handle off to the side (anyone who is my age-ish should know what I’m talking about). After they started claiming to be all white meat, all the short round ones were pulled and I stopped eating nuggets because the white meat ones are friggin dry and require tons of sauce to become halfway decent.

    I feel like I should be embarrassed about my attention to nugget detail, but I’m not.

  • Careful Yvo, or D will start making unsolicited offers involving nuggets – his and/or yours. After making an unnecessary comment about your blog, of course.

  • Oh, and what kinda sandwich is that in your avatar? Looks pretty good

  • Their nuggets aren’t as tasty as I remembered them to be growing up but they’re still edible at 4 for a buck. Definitely not worth buying their other sizes. Haha. You definitely need a whole lotta sauce (all of the sweet& sour or BBQ), unless you’re lucky enough to have them pull out a freshly deep-fried batch. I’ve been fortunate to witness that a few times and you don’t need to sauce to enjoy. Just try not to burn your tongue like I did. ;P

    I know what you mean by the pieces with the handle. It looks like a christmas stocking. And I use to fight for the completely round nuggets. They have oval shaped nuggets now with the sock shaped ones.

    Leg and Thigh (dark) is definitely juicier than Breast meat (white). I prefer dark when eating fried/ roast chicken. I know white is healthier but I can only take it in sandwich form.

  • @Yvo OMG. I feel the same way. I remembered the dark and white meat chicken nugget days, and I always eat the dark meat ones because the white ones are so dry.

    I do love McD’s new advertising though. It makes me chuckle every time I see it – 100% white meat, 100% beef. What was I eating before?

  • Anyone else like the boot-shaped ones? Dip it in bbq sauce and it’s a boot stepping into a mud puddle.

Leave a Reply

You must log in or register to post a comment.