Why Can’t I Get Spicy Nuggets At Wendy’s Anymore?

There are chicken nuggets and then there are spicy chicken nuggets, and if you’re a fan of the latter the former probably won’t suffice when you’ve got a hankering. Which is why we have bad news for those who prefer Wendy’s spicy nuggets: Your odds of finding your chosen nugget are dwindling.

FoodBeast reports that Wendy’s has been pulling the spicy nuggets from stores across the country for a few weeks now.

Wendy’s first offered the spicy nuggets — an alternative to the regular nuggets, available in four-, six-, or 10-piece orders — as a limited-time option before bringing the meal to its menu full time around 2010.

But now, a rep for the company tells FoodBeast that the nuggets are only available in select cities, while traditional nuggets are available everywhere. The nuggets are still listed on the company’s online menu.

In lieu of ordering spicy nuggets, the rep suggested customers instead order a spicy chicken sandwich.

Since the Wendy’s rep wasn’t able to say which locations or regions had decided to drop the spicy option, we at Consumerist bravely ventured to two Wendy’s locations — one in Iowa, another in New York state — to see what was on the menu locally.

Alas, there were no spicy nuggets to be found in either location. Instead, a Wendy’s employee in Iowa said the location had stopped selling the nuggets about a week ago and didn’t expect them to return to the menu.

The menu at an Iowa Wendy's does not list spicy nuggets.

The menu at an Iowa Wendy’s does not list spicy nuggets.

In New York, an employee told Consumerist that there weren’t any spicy nuggets anywhere in the store.

Consumerist has reached out to Wendy’s to find out why the spicy nuggets were removed.

Customers appear to be pretty upset about the missing item, even starting a change.org petition to “Stop The Discontinuing Of Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Nuggets,” which has received more than 1,400 signatures.

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