Bush’s Chicken Menu and Prices
Real 2026 prices for every tender box, family meal, side and gallon of tea — plus the math on which order actually costs you least per tender.
Menu verified August 2026
Bush’s publishes its menu as a picture
If you have ever tried to check Bush’s Chicken prices before you drive over, you already know the problem. The chain’s own menu page shows a photograph of the menu board. No text, no prices, nothing a search engine or a screen reader can read. So the only prices floating around online belong to delivery apps, which are not the prices you pay at the window.
I pulled this page together from two separate Bush’s operators who do publish real numbers: one franchise’s in-store cash price list, and a Waco store’s own online-ordering menu. Everything below is transcribed from those, not estimated. Because Bush’s is a franchise system, your hometown store can differ by a few cents to a couple of dollars — so treat this as an accurate working picture rather than a guarantee, and expect the ranking of what’s good value to hold even where the exact figure moves.
One number worth knowing up front: the in-store list states plainly that its prices are for cash transactions. Card, online ordering and delivery all sit above it.
The Value Ladder
Bush’s sells the same tender at nine different effective prices depending on which box you order it in. Pick your group size and the ladder shows the cheapest real route, with the arithmetic left visible so you can check it.
What are you actually feeding?
Prices below are the in-store cash list. Cost per tender is calculated, not advertised.
One person, one sitting
Includes gravy and one roll. This is the lowest cost per tender anywhere on the Bush’s menu, beating even the 30-piece family meal. The catch: no side, no drink.
6 Tender Individual Meal = $14.39 → the meal saves you $1.88
Two people
Three tenders each, your own side, your own large tea. Comes in under two separate meals while giving you exactly the same components.
Two 4 Tender Individual Meals = $23.18
Family of four
Four tenders each, gravy, four rolls, one family-size side, and a gallon of tea for the table. This is where Bush’s family pricing genuinely pulls ahead.
Four 4 Tender Individual Meals = $46.36 → family route saves $6.88
Group of ten
Three tenders per person, three family sides, ten rolls and gravy. At this size the family box beats stacking up cheaper small boxes, because the sides and rolls come with it.
30 Tender Family Meal = $58.99 → the family meal saves $9.93
Every tender option, ranked by what one tender costs
- 6 Tenders, box only — $10.79$1.80
- 20 Tenders, box only — $36.99$1.85
- 16 Tenders, box only — $30.99$1.94
- 30 Tender Family Meal — $58.99$1.97
- 4 Tenders, box only — $8.69$2.17
- 16 Tender Family Meal — $35.49$2.22
- 20 Tender Family Meal — $44.49$2.22
- 6 Tender Individual Meal — $14.39$2.40
- 4 Tender Individual Meal — $11.59$2.90
- 2 Tender Individual Meal — $9.29$4.65
Individual meals carry a side and a large drink, family meals carry sides and rolls, box-only orders carry gravy and rolls. The ladder compares the chicken alone — read it alongside the panels above rather than on its own.
Tenders
Tenders are the reason most people are here, and Bush’s splits them three ways: a meal built around you, a family box, or just the chicken in a bag.
Individual Meals
Roll · gravy · side · large drinkTenders Only
Includes gravyFamily Meals
Includes gravySwapping in macaroni and cheese as your side carries a $0.99 up-charge on tender orders.
Fried chicken
Bush’s calls its bone-in orders a “mix” — leg, thigh, wing and breast. You can order it as a meal, as a family box, or as chicken and rolls alone.
Individual Meals
Roll · side · large drinkFamily Meals
Chicken Only
Livers & Gizzards
Worth noticing: the 15 Piece Mix costs $48.99 as a family meal with two sides and ten rolls, and $39.99 as chicken and rolls alone. The two family sides you are paying $9.00 for would cost $9.98 ordered separately, so the family version is marginally the better buy.
Tender rolls, buffalo fries, kids and sides
Tender Rolls & More
Kid’s Meal
Side · drink · cookieSides
Regular | FamilyExtras
Regular | FamilyA family side runs $4.99 against $2.99 for a regular. That is $2.00 for roughly the difference between one person’s portion and the table’s, which is why the family meals hold up so well once you are feeding more than two.
The tea
Bush’s states its goal as the best chicken, the best tenders and the best tea. The tea is not a throwaway line — the chain sells it by the gallon jug, and a gallon costs $3.99, which is less than two extra-large cups.
Bush’s Famous Iced Tea
Sweet · unsweet · half and halfCoke & Dr Pepper products
A gallon is 128 ounces for $3.99, which is about $0.031 per ounce. Two 44-ounce cups get you 88 ounces for $5.98, or about $0.068 per ounce. The jug is more than twice as efficient, and it is the single easiest saving on the whole menu when there are three or more of you.
Tender Tuesday and the 2 to 5 window
Tender Tuesday
Every Tuesday, Bush’s sells tenders and sides at family meal pricing. The chain describes it as a movement rather than a promotion, and it has run long enough that regulars plan around it.
Happy Hour, 2:00 to 5:00 daily
Tea and soft drinks are discounted every afternoon between two and five. If you are picking up a family order, timing it into that window trims the drinks line.
Cash beats card
The in-store price list this page is built from states that its prices are for cash transactions. Bringing cash is not required, but it is the cheapest way to order.
Specials are set at store level in a franchise system, so check your local Bush’s before you build a Tuesday around it. The two above are promoted by the chain itself rather than by individual stores, which makes them the most reliable.
In store versus ordering online
These are two real Bush’s price lists side by side: a franchise’s in-store cash board, and the online-ordering menu published by the Waco store on South Valley Mills Drive. They are different operators, so read the gap as the shape of the spread rather than a fee breakdown at one counter.
| Item | In store, cash | Online order | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Tender Individual Meal | $9.29 | $9.36 | +$0.07 |
| 4 Tender Individual Meal | $11.59 | $11.86 | +$0.27 |
| 6 Tender Individual Meal | $14.39 | $14.95 | +$0.56 |
| 16 Tender Family Meal | $35.49 | $37.48 | +$1.99 |
| 20 Tender Family Meal | $44.49 | $46.25 | +$1.76 |
| 30 Tender Family Meal | $58.99 | $62.48 | +$3.49 |
| 10 Piece Mix Family Meal | $39.99 | $39.98 | −$0.01 |
| 15 Piece Mix Family Meal | $48.99 | $49.98 | +$0.99 |
| Tender Roll | $1.99 | $2.23 | +$0.24 |
| Gallon of tea | $3.99 | $4.25 | +$0.26 |
The pattern is consistent: small orders barely move, big family orders climb by two to three and a half dollars. Some Bush’s online ordering runs through a third-party platform that adds a transaction fee on top of the menu price, and delivery apps sit higher again — one third-party delivery listing had the 4-tender meal at more than fourteen dollars against $11.59 on the cash board. If you are ordering for a family, the drive-thru is meaningfully cheaper than the phone.
A Waco idea about drive-thru lanes
Bush’s Chicken opened in 1996 on the outskirts of Waco, started by Keith and Charlene Bush. They began franchising in 2005, and the chain now runs more than seventy-five stores across Central, North, South and West Texas. It reported revenue of $231 million in 2021 with around a thousand employees, and the company headquarters sits back in Waco after a spell in Austin.
The detail that explains the brand better than any of those numbers is how the drive-thru works. Rather than queue cars single file at a speaker box, Keith Bush had employees walk out to each vehicle across multiple lanes and take orders face to face. It is a low-technology answer to a problem most chains solved with better microphones, and it is why a Bush’s parking lot at six on a weekday looks less like a queue and more like a car park with staff moving between windows.
That same posture shows up in the food. Chicken is marinated in house, rolls are yeast rolls rather than biscuits, and the sides lean Southern rather than fast food: fried okra, corn nuggets, country cole slaw, green beans. It is a Texas chain that has stayed a Texas chain — a run of Arizona locations in the late 2010s has since closed, leaving the map effectively all in state.
Five things worth knowing
Prices move by store
Bush’s is franchised, so the board in Andrews is not necessarily the board in Temple. The figures here are transcribed from published Texas price lists and are accurate to those lists, not to every store.
Gravy is standard on tenders
Every tender order includes gravy. You only pay for gravy separately if you want extra, at $1.09 regular or $3.49 family.
Mac and cheese costs more
It is the one side priced above the rest at $3.99 regular, and swapping it into a tender meal adds $0.99.
The jug travels
A gallon of tea at $3.99 is the standard move for a group. It also explains the jugs you see going into trucks in the parking lot.
Hours run long, not late
Most stores open around 10:00 or 10:30 in the morning and close between 9:30 and 10:00 at night. This is a dinner chain, not a late-night one.
Find your store first
With seventy-five-plus locations, the chain’s own location finder is the fastest way to confirm hours and whether your store takes online orders.
If you are working through Texas chains generally, our restaurants by city hub covers the same treatment for individual towns, and the Austin menus and San Antonio menus pages both include Bush’s locations among the local options.
Bush’s Chicken FAQ
How much is a Bush’s Chicken family meal?
The 16 Tender Family Meal is $35.49 with one family side, four rolls and gravy. The 20 Tender is $44.49 with two sides and five rolls, and the 30 Tender is $58.99 with three sides and ten rolls. On the bone-in side, the 10 Piece Mix is $39.99 and the 15 Piece Mix is $48.99.
What is the cheapest way to order tenders at Bush’s?
Per tender, the 6-piece tenders-only box at $10.79 is the best rate on the menu at about $1.80 a tender, ahead of even the 30-piece family meal. It comes with gravy and a roll but no side or drink, so it suits sharing more than a solo meal.
Is Tender Tuesday a real discount?
Yes. Bush’s sells tenders and sides at family meal pricing every Tuesday, promoted chain-wide rather than store by store. Exact Tuesday pricing is set locally, so confirm with your store.
Does Bush’s Chicken have a happy hour?
Tea and soft drinks are discounted daily from 2:00 to 5:00 PM at participating locations.
How much is a gallon of Bush’s tea?
$3.99 for a gallon jug in store, against $2.49 for a 32-ounce large cup. Per ounce, the gallon is less than half the price.
Where is Bush’s Chicken located?
Bush’s operates more than seventy-five locations across Central, North, South and West Texas, with headquarters in Waco. It is effectively a Texas-only chain — an Arizona expansion in the late 2010s has since closed.
Sources for this page
- Bush’s Chicken official site — company story, franchise information, locations directory, and the chain-wide Tender Tuesday and happy hour details (bushschicken.com).
- A Bush’s franchise operator’s published in-store price list, which supplies every price in the menu sections above and states that its prices are for cash transactions. Menu read and transcribed August 2026.
- The online-ordering menu published by the Bush’s Chicken store at 1704 S Valley Mills Drive in Waco, used for the in-store versus online comparison.
- Wikipedia’s Bush’s Chicken entry for founding, ownership history, revenue and employee figures.
- An independent reference profile covering store formats, square footage and the closed Arizona locations.
- Yelp and delivery-platform location listings, used only to cross-check operating hours and the shape of third-party delivery markup.
Cost-per-tender and per-person figures on this page are calculated from those published prices. Bush’s does not advertise them.
Bush’s Chicken · Headquarters: Waco, Texas
Store hours typically 10:00 AM – 9:30 PM, varying by location
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