Tiger Sugar Chunky Boss Chicago Review: We Came for the Chicken and Corn Dogs, Forgot They Were Famous for Boba
Tiger Sugar Chunky Boss Chicago Review: We Came for the Chicken and Corn Dogs, Forgot They Were Famous for Boba
After leaving Oriental Tea in Chinatown, Mike and I were already operating at dangerously high levels of sugar consumption.
We had just demolished crème brûlée boba, cookies and cream milk tea, and enough fried Oreos to make a cardiologist sigh heavily from several blocks away.
Naturally, the logical next step was more food.
This led us to Tiger Sugar Chicago and Chunky Boss (best fried chicken chops) at 2116 S. Archer Avenue.
Now, most people know Tiger Sugar for one thing:
Boba.
Brown sugar boba.
The drink that helped launch a global craze and turned swirling brown sugar stripes into social media content.
But we had a problem.
We had just consumed enough tea to hydrate a small village.
Another giant boba wasn’t happening.
So instead we made what can only be described as a questionable but delicious decision.
We ordered the food.
Specifically:
Popcorn chicken coated in cheese powder.
And Asian corn dogs.
Because apparently our Chinatown adventure had evolved into a mission to consume every snack possible before our bodies could file an official complaint.
The first thing that stood out was the restaurant itself.
The giant tiger mural immediately grabs your attention.
The bright yellow walls practically scream at you.
The branding is everywhere.
The place looks modern, clean, energetic, and designed for people who enjoy taking photos of their food before eating it.
Which, let’s be honest, is most of us now.
Then we waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
Now to be fair, Tiger Sugar is primarily known for drinks and desserts.
We were ordering fried food.
So while the wait stretched past twenty minutes, the upside was obvious when the food arrived.
Everything was fresh.
Everything was hot.
And I mean HOT.
Not “fresh out of the warmer” hot.
I’m talking “careful, this might remove a layer of skin from the roof of your mouth” hot.
The popcorn chicken was excellent.
Crispy.
Juicy.
Loaded with seasoning.
The cheese powder added just enough flavor to make you continue eating long after you should have stopped.
Every piece had that addictive quality where you tell yourself:
“One more.”
Then suddenly the container is empty.
The Asian corn dogs were equally satisfying.
Crunchy exterior.
Soft interior.
Perfect snack food.
The kind of thing you order thinking you’ll share and then immediately begin calculating how much physical force would be required to keep the other person from taking another bite.
By the end of the meal, Mike and I reached the same conclusion.
Would we come back?
Absolutely.
Would we order the food again?
Without hesitation.
Would we also order a boba next time?
One hundred percent.
Because honestly, that’s probably where we made our mistake.
Tiger Sugar built its reputation on drinks.
The food was good.
Really good.
But while sitting there waiting, watching tray after tray of beautiful brown sugar boba leave the counter, we realized we probably should have committed fully to the experience.
The boba would have made the wait feel shorter.
The problem wasn’t Tiger Sugar.
The problem was that we had already consumed enough milk tea at Oriental Tea to float a small fishing boat.
So we skipped what they’re famous for.
That’s on us.
If you’re exploring Chicago Chinatown, walking Archer Avenue, looking for Taiwanese snacks, Asian corn dogs, popcorn chicken, brown sugar boba, milk tea, dessert drinks, or one of the most recognizable tea brands in the city, Tiger Sugar is worth the stop.
Just learn from our mistake.
Get the chicken.
Get the corn dog.
But for the love of all things sweet, get the boba too.
Otherwise you’ll spend twenty minutes watching everyone else enjoy the thing you should have ordered.
And nobody wants that kind of regret.
