Nash and Tender SJ

Craving a chicken sandwich and you happen to be in downtown San Jose? Well you'll be surprised that there's this place located inside a night club that serves crispy yet juicy chicken tenders and sandwiches with all the fixings.Nash and Tender commands a presence within Fuze, the night club, and feeds lunch and dinner via takeout orders. You can order online or at the kiosk in the establishment. It was difficult for me to find them the first time around as I wasn't aware it was inside the club but if you see a sign propped up in front of Fuze, you are at the right place. Head on in, and although it's quite dark due to the club atmosphere, the kitchen is well lit to guide your way.The chicken here is breaded and fried perfectly and is meaty to give you that hearty bite. The chicken strips are good as is but they're also served as sliders in soft buns and on little waffles for their take on a classic combination. Once you've decided on an entree, you could consider making it a combo which can come with cole slaw, mac n cheese or fries. If you do end up with fries in your combo, consider getting the seasoned ones to get a nice kick to each bite. The seasoning is exceptional!The price is decent for the amount of food you get and being in downtown San Jose, the upcharge isn't as egregious as other major cities. The downside is that there's no dine in. The food doesn't take too long to prepare (as most of it is likely made to order, it's about a 15-20 minute wait depending on the size of your order). Once you get your food, I highly recommend eating it fresh or you risk your food getting soggy.The staff were pretty friendly, although they did seem to have their "club" facade/posture on despite it still being light out. The kitchen staff were definitely more approachable than the front of the house, whom I found were a bit intimidating.Overall, the food is delicious here and made fresh. You won't have a place to eat it so if you're already planning to get takeout, Nash and Tender is a good option. I've heard that Fuze has rotating pop up restaurants that share the space, so catch the chicken sandwiches while they're still here!

This place is located in fuse bar at downtown San Jose. You can order from a machine.It's a club/dark so it's not a dine in.The seasoned fries are really good. It's amazing and crispy. The chicken is solid. Nothing too crazy. Mac and cheese is not bad but nothing crazy. The sauce is good too

Service: the worker didn't know English so we had to speak to someone on the phone and use google translate to ask questions You order on a kiosk but some parts are confusing such as the option to choose 3 things to remove things from the combo.I paid 0.60 extra for sauce but I wasn't sure if it was already included in the combo or not and only got one sauce in the box. The place is like a shut down bar that says fuze or something and it's not very clear the place is there. It's also really dusty there. Food: Mac and cheese tastes a little sour, the chicken tenders are okay tasting (medium wasn't too spicy), fries are good

Food arrived cold. Flavors are just off. Service was timely and the ambiance/quality of arrival was decent. The chicken was fried in old oil and the fries tastes like frozen fries. Overall doesn't compare to other Nashville stores. Since it's new, I'm hoping to come back and try it as they improve. I love that it's halal!

Stale fries, no seasoning , forgot sauce which ruined experience.. thanks :) I recommend going to jojos hot chicken or sicko chickz :)

Hot and spicy chicken would seem like a hard business. Every fast food and fast food adjacent restaurant has a hot and spicy chicken sandwich, and Nash + Tender is just hot and spicy chicken and sides, nothing else. The fries are just basic crinkle fries that you'd get at fast food restaurants and diners. The mac and cheese is a bit better than you'd make at home but not as good as say Panera's or some restaurants with more gourmet mac and cheese. But those aren't the stars of the show. It's the chicken, and the chicken is SUPERB! The only cut of chicken that they serve is what they call a tender, and it's thick and juicy. There are options for 5 levels of hot. I got medium hot. The outside was perfectly crispy. The medium hotness is spicy and full of flavor, much better than any fast food or fast food adjacent chain, but the hotness isn't overwhelming in a way that loses any of the flavor. The hotness and spice is baked into the outside, and not from something like a buffalo sauce, so it's not at all messy. The "tenders' seem a bit too thick to be the chicken fingers or tenderloins (tender) that are the muscle that's a flap under the chicken breast. I suspect that it might be half a chicken breast instead of the finger or tenderloin, but I may be wrong. The pickles, that are standard with Nashville chicken, are good too. They're thick and have the right flavor, which you don't always get with restaurant pickles. The pickle flavor adds complexity to the hot spice flavor of the chicken and the serve them not just on the sandwiches but with the stand alone tenders and tender tacos. There's a side sauce that's a kind of spicy special sauce or thousand island base that's a little creamy. If you dip a tender in it, it's another kind of hot and spicy flavor for more complexity. I suspect that the mac and cheese as a combo item and side is because it's a perfect place to run to if the hotness becomes a bit much. The mac and cheese soothes the tongue and gives you a reprieve. Think of a lassi drink with hot and spicy Indian food or all the dairy garnishing and served with Mexican food. The coleslaw on the sandwich also cuts the heat. The fries do that a bit too, but fries with chicken sandwiches or tenders is a standard combination. The bun for the chicken sandwich is better than the typical fast food bun, but not as good as say a ciabatta roll. There were a couple of combos with waffles to let you do chicken and waffles. I thought that that might complicate my judgement of the Nashville chicken experience. Waffles can include condiments like butter and syrup that would have pushed past the 5 flavor limit for being able to appreciate all the flavors there. But chicken and waffles as a second visit now that I've evaluated the Nashville chicken experience might be good expanded experience now. They've got a good tight specialty menu built around a specific food experience. It's kind of like high art for food. For a large group, the limited and specific menu might not please everyone, but for 1 or 2 people wanting that unique well made food experience, it's really good. It would be hard to improve on the chicken for them. If I were them, I'd work on improving the sides and bun a bit. The same cooking approach might work on salmon or tuna as a menu expansion that might not require expanding their kitchen equipment, although I know that breading chicken and fish has different requirements. It's not as cheap or fast as fast food, but it's certainly a better meal.

It's located inside a night club named Fuze. The best meal would be the NashFries! did not disappoint!