The Chick-Fil-A Nugget Box Hack For Convenient On-The-Go Eating

Fast food chains like Chick-fil-A are known for offering convenient food designed to be eaten on the go. But sometimes customers take matters into their own hands, creating new food options — like spicy mac and cheese bowls – and ways to dine with ease. Just take the Chick-fil-A nuggets box hack, for instance. It's a hack that made the internet rounds a few years ago and shows no signs of going away as other netizens discover its "usefulness."

So, what exactly is the nuggets box hack? Well, it involves balancing your box of nuggets on your drink for easy transportation. You see, Chick-fil-A's nugget boxes have a hole in the back center. One ingenious customer realized that the straw from a drink would perfectly fit in the hole, meaning you can stack your nuggets box on top of your soft drink for maximum convenience. What drives this hack to another level is that you can also place your dipping sauce inside your nuggets box. You can carry your entire meal in just one hand. The nuggets box hack proved so resourceful that one Chick-fil-A restaurant even promoted it, sharing an image on its Facebook with the hashtag lifehacks. But could the hack actually be more of a fail? 

While the Chick-fil-A nuggets box hack seems like a resourceful solution, many question how useful the hack actually is. As one person pointed out on X (formerly Twitter), it can be difficult not to make a mess — especially if you're driving with your nuggets. They wrote, "It's all fun and games until someone taps it on the side with a touch lighter than a feather and it goes flying 3284729457 miles and all your nuggets are on the ground." Another user commented on Chick-fil-A's post of the hack, pointing out a key downside: You'll have to get your chin pretty close to your nuggets if you want a sip from your drink. As they put it, it's a "good way to get a beard full of sauce."

That happened when one Facebook user decided to test the hack out for themselves. The size of the straw proved to be an issue when it came to taking a sip from the drink. They ended up with sauce in their beard. Plus, it raises the issue of potentially getting hair in your nuggets. So, as far as functionality, the nuggets box hack leaves little to be desired. 

If the hole in the Chick-fil-A box isn't meant for a straw, what exactly is it for? There have been plenty of theories from customers online. For instance, some Redditors thought the hole helped keep the nuggets from getting soggy by allowing steam to escape from the box. They wrote, "Always thought it was for air ventilation for the chicken pieces."

However, that's not what the hole is actually for. TMZ suggested the hole is part of a tabs system at the back of the box. This was confirmed to TODAY by a Chick-fil-A spokesperson. According to the representative, there are three tabs on the back of the box. Think of them similar to a soft drink lid at restaurants, only these tabs pop out based on what's in the box. There are corresponding labels for nuggets, strips, or other. The nuggets spot is in the center of the box, which is why it's the subject of the hack. Perhaps that's one of many things you didn't know about Chick-fil-A.

The representative said that Chick-fil-A "is not recommending customers put the straw through the hole — that's just not what it's intended for." So, it's not a hack endorsed by the chicken chain.