FINALLY: Restaurant Devoted To Nuggets Opens In East Village

Everyone's favorite Ivy League creation has a new single-focus restaurant to call home. The Nugget Spot opened in October along 14th street in the East Village, offering a variety of deep-fried meats and cheeses in bite-sized form. It's like a combination of Sticky Fingers, the chicken finger joint that debuted last year, and Pomme Frites, which take classic fast food items, class 'em up and skew the flavors and ingredients to an adult palate.

Unlike their terrifyingly manufactured forbears, the nuggets here are actually whole pieces of hormone-free meat, cut into hunks for easy dipping. Customers choose their protein (chicken, pork, catfish or mozzarella; $7 for eight), then select one of the coatings, which include a traditional panko breading, coconut, pretzel and even pulverized cheese crackers. The nuggets are deep fried then served with the customer's choice of dipping sauce. Nostalgia seekers might opt for honey mustard or bbq, but they're also mixing up spicy tomato, nacho-queso and roasted pepper ranch dipping sauces for the more adventurous palate.

Troubled decision-makers can try a signature creation, like the "Secret Coded" (cheese cracker crust with hot sauce), Katsu (Panko crusting with wasabi mayonnaise) or the Tso-Tswag (General Tso style crust with Mumbo Sauce). On the side they've got some veggies like Brussels spouts and slaw, but for the full fast food formula you've gotta go with french fries or perhaps a biscuit. According to their Instagram, nugget sandwiches have started popping up on the menu, just in time to compete with the newly opened biscuit haven just a few blocks away.

230 East 14th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, (646) 422-7346; thenuggetspot.com. Open daily at 11:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. (Sunday - Thursday) and 2 a.m. (Friday and Saturday)