The weekly holiday that is Chicken Finger Thursday makes the Georgetown dining experience infinitely more bearable for one, glorious day a week. However, no matter how delicious the food is, eating something that often can get old. So here are a few of 4E’s best ideas for keeping CFT fresh week every week:

Experiment with the sauces

Sure, this isn’t the most ingenious idea, but just try mixing it up every once in a while. Upstairs, they usually have chicken fingers drenched in buffalo, barbecue and/or honey mustard sauces. Plus, you can choose from the many dipping sauces downstairs (including my go-to, ranch dressing).  Changing up your sauces can be critical for enjoying a good CFT.

The Hot Chick

Sure, maybe you can’t quite get Wisey’s quality out of Leo’s food. But you can get pretty close. The ingredients: A roll, some chicken fingers, cheese, tomatoes, ranch/mayo and Old Bay seasoning. Throw all these together, slide it on the panini press and voila! You have your own take on a Wisey’s classic.

General Tso’s

While the Wok Station has changed to start off this year, they have always honored the request to put chicken fingers in your bowl. If you cut them up yourself, and give them to the chef, they will more than likely stir-fry them up with your veggies. Finish it off with General Tso’s sauce to complete the experience.

Buffalo Chicken Wrap

Like the Hot Chick, chicken fingers generally taste better with a little kick.  So first, either get the chicken fingers dipped in buffalo sauce, or douse them in the hot sauce yourself downstairs.  Then, grab a tortilla downstairs, and fill it with all of the fixings you want. I usually keep it simple, adding lettuce, cheese (sometimes) and either ranch or blue cheese dressing.  You can either eat it cold, or throw it on the panini press to toast the whole thing.

Chicken and Waffles

This is a personal favorite of mine.  If you have the time (and the means), head downstairs to the waffle maker, and get your waffle cooking.  While that’s going, go grab your basket of chicken fingers (fries aren’t necessary, but you can grab them if you want).  Once the waffle is complete, put them together, cover them in syrup and enjoy.

Sure, Leo’s isn’t perfect.  And sure, even though they are great, even the chicken fingers can get a little boring.  Hopefully, this list will help you enjoy Thursdays even more, and stop you from getting chicken-finger-fatigue.

Photo: seriouseats.com