Penny's Hot Chicken — Restaurant in Waterloo

Not sure how this place has gotten so many 5 star reviews - I'm honestly extremely easy to impress when it comes to food. I very rarely, if ever give out poor reviews. But this was one of the most disappointing dining experiences I have had in quite a while. I ordered on a busy friday night and me and my friend were out the door within 10 minutes, even despite a long line ahead of us, so the customer service, outside of the food quality, was great. In terms of the food itself, however, the fries firstly were clearly way too old to be served. They had very little flavour and felt like I was biting into rocks. I wouldn't be surprised if this batch was made in the morning and had been left out all day. I ordered the 3 tender platter which is supposed to come with a side - I'm not kidding when I say there was enough coleslaw for one bite. I genuinely thought maybe the person who made my platter had forgotten to put enough of the side in the box. The chicken itself was very average and drier than expected. If chains like popeyes and KFC that cut corners at every chance can have juicier chicken, what does that say about the quality of this place? The spicy seasoning was extremely lightly dusted on about 1/3 of the chicken - based on the pictures on the website I expected them to be fully coated. I ordered the hot and very hot spice, but didn't feel the tenders were spicy at all. The hot felt like they had dusted a tiny bit of cayenne powder on the tenders which barely had any lasting spice, and the very hot was about what I'd expect from a "medium" at any other establishment. My friend had the sandwich and claimed he enjoyed it, but with my experience tonight I definitely won't be coming back. I was really looking forward to trying some great nashville hot chicken but...

I wish I could give zero stars for the severe issues your food has caused. Two Sundays ago, I ordered two meals for myself and my husband through Uber Eats. From the very first bite, I could tell something was wrong—the chicken tasted and smelled utterly rotten, so much so that I had to throw the food away immediately. Had I not been pressed for time, I would have brought the spoiled food back to your location to hold you accountable in person. The real ordeal began the next day. I woke up with excruciating stomach pain and severe diarrhea, accompanied by blood. I was extremely sick for two days, and my husband suffered the exact same symptoms. The last thing we ate was from Penny’s Hot Chicken. It’s clear there’s no longer any regard for customer safety.

It seems your establishment hires untrained, cheap labor—likely students—who clearly lack the proper training and fail to store and check food before frying it up for orders. How many of your workers are actually certified in food safety? I suspect the answer is none. It’s imperative that you properly train your staff to handle food safely and responsibly. I won’t let this go unnoticed. I’ll be posting about my experience on every food forum I come across to ensure others are warned about your substandard and...

Based on all of the rave reviews, I decided to give Pennys Hot Chicken a try. I got the standard classic chicken sandwich with a side (I chose waffle fries).

First impression: massive piece of chicken. The portion could have easily been distributed over two sandwiches so I’m factoring that into the high price.

The chicken: it’s chicken thigh so the meat is juicy and the breading is light and crispy. I chose medium heat and couldn’t taste it at all. That being said, it was delicious.

The sandwich: when I finally bit into the bun, the sandwich fell apart for me… literally. The bottom layer coleslaw was so wet that it soaked the bread. So much so that the breading of the chicken slid off with the bun. At that point, I put the sand which down and ate a few bites with fork and knife.

The sandwich came with sauce but I actually ordered it in the side. I can’t imagine what it would have been like with sauce on it!

Waffle fries were standard.

I gave this review 4 stars based on the first few bites of the chicken alone. I’m not sure if it’s always a wet soaking sandwich or if I was the unlucky one. Plus, there may be people that like a sandwich dripping down their fingers 🤷🏼‍♀️

I may try this again but not for a long time. They are new and I hope they can figure...