Good evening, New York. Tonight’s topic is unusual but telling: $100 chicken nuggets topped with caviar at the 2025 U.S. Open. Are they a symbol of economic inequality — or just capitalism at work?
Here are the facts:
- The nuggets are sold by COQODAQ, a Korean fried chicken vendor.
- A six-piece box costs $100 and comes topped with caviar, crème fraîche, scallions, and pickled daikon, plus a tin of caviar on the side.
- Regular nuggets sell for $26, lobster rolls are about $40, and cocktails run around $23.
- Some fans call the dish overpriced. Others say it’s part of the luxury experience of the U.S. Open.
Joining us tonight are two very different voices:
- Mondani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, running on a platform of economic fairness and what he calls “menus for the people.”
- Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize-winning economist, famous for defending free markets and voluntary choice.
Moderator: Gentlemen, welcome.
Mondani: One hundred dollars — for nuggets! This isn’t food, it’s a grotesque symbol of inequality. While families in Queens struggle to put dinner on the table, Wall Street elites are eating fried chicken with caviar like it’s Versailles. This is economic violence, culinary class warfare, and proof that capitalism is broken beyond repair.
Friedman: Or it’s simply consumer choice. No one is being forced to buy these nuggets. They’re not a staple, they’re a luxury item — like a Gucci handbag or a courtside ticket. If someone values the novelty enough to spend $100, that’s their right. Prices don’t oppress; they inform. They tell you what’s scarce and what people are willing to pay.
Mondani: Inform? Inform who? They inform the working class that they’re locked out of joy! They inform single mothers that chicken is no longer for them — it’s for hedge fund bros with gold cards! I call this a fried monument to greed.
Friedman: Chicken isn’t locked away. You want affordable nuggets? They’re $26 at the same stand. You want caviar on them? They’re $100. You want them for $5? That’s McDonald’s. Or better yet, pack a sandwich. This isn’t oppression. It’s freedom of choice.
Mondani: If I’m elected mayor, every stadium and arena will be required to offer a Fair Food Menu: $5 nuggets, $2 hot dogs, $1 water. Equality on a plate. The people deserve access to food without Wall Street’s price tags.
Friedman: And then watch the vendors vanish. They can’t cover costs at those prices. You’ll have shortages, long lines, empty shelves — the same failures that plague every central-planning experiment. That’s the lesson of socialism: you don’t get fairness, you get mediocrity for everyone.
Mondani: Caviar is theft! Nuggets for the many, not the few! We will liberate chicken from the grip of capitalist greed!
Friedman: Liberate the chicken? That’s not policy, that’s poultry politics. You want liberation? Let the market work — and let people decide for themselves whether $100 nuggets are worth it.
Moderator: And there you have it. Mondani sees exploitation. Friedman sees voluntary exchange. And the nuggets? Still $100.