Diplo Judges Chicken Tenders at Festival in Beverly Hills

Diplo was a guest judge for a chicken tender festival this weekend... yes, you read that correctly!

The 4th annual Tender Fest took place this weekend in Beverly Hills ... with musicians Diplo and Alison Wonderland stepping in as two of the judges -- and they say they have no problem making these tough tendie calls.

Diplo said he’s eaten tenders in exotic locales across the world -- even on a boat in Antarctica -- so he has all the qualifications you need to judge such a competition. Check out the full interview ... we also ask Diplo and AW both which celeb they would choose to eat tenders with ... their answers may surprise you.

The chefs in this year's competition include 2-time tender cook-off winner Chef Tim Hollingsworth, Rapper and owner of Trill Tenders, Bun B (the reigning tender champ) ... along with tender cook-off newcomers Chef Marcus Samuelsson and Chef Alex Guarnaschelli.

Actor Nick Turturro was also in attendance ... he discussed his new project, "Delivering Happiness with Prince Street Pizza." Nick said while he enjoyed delivering pizza to Bill Burr in bed, his dream delivery would be to Robert De Niro -- or to Aaron Judge in the Yankees dugout ... though he doesn’t think the team is too happy with his tough criticism after they were eliminated from the playoffs last week.

At the end of the night, Chef Hollingsworth took home the prize for the third time in the four years the event has been held, solidifying his name in tendie history.