KFC Southampton - Burlesdon Road — Restaurant in Southampton

This place has gone downhill massively in the last six months.

From missing menu items and serving drinks in lidless Krushem cups to rude staff, horrendous waiting times and first priority always going to delivery drivers.

Visited the drive thru today and there was only one person taking orders and payment whilst also trying to serve food which meant the service was extremely slow. The poor lad at the window made it abundantly clear that he didn’t want to be there. Asked for the 10 piece mini fillet bucket and was told they only do it on a Tuesday even though it’s advertised everywhere all week and available to order online all week. This was not the £5.99 Tuesday deal, this was the 10 piece bucket for £10.99, which I was clear about when ordering and he was adamant that with or without the deal, they only serve it on a Tuesday so had to order the boneless feast instead. We were ordering for a massive group so also ordered a bargain bucket. When we were asked which sides and drinks we wanted we asked for two bottles of Pepsi max and they said they didn’t have any. The wait to actually get to the window and pay was really long because they were using only one window for everything. When we did pay we asked for a receipt and were told that the machine wasn’t printing so we couldn’t have one, which is risky when you’re placing such a large order and the service is notorious for ‘missing’ things.

We then had to park up and wait for ten minutes for our order whilst watching delivery drivers come and go with their orders in the meantime and the whole time we waited for our order we watched as the entire drive thru queue remained stagnant with no movement at all.

We eventually got our order and when we got home found that for the 10 piece bargain bucket they’d given us 8 legs and 2 breasts - the breasts were just slightly bigger than nuggets and all pieces were over cooked and dry and in the boneless feasts there was the opposite problem - the batter for the mini fillets was undercooked and soggy and held barely any flavour and the chicken was chewy.

At least the chips were ok.

Very disappointing and not worth the extortionate price that we paid. Only came back here because McDonalds in Swaythling was shut and the Hedge End one was rammed but definitely won’t be returning here under any...

22.05.21 Update. Kitchen cooking equipment broken down meaning a 40 minutes or more wait for your order. Only two staff members serving at the counter. One member of staff taking orders at the till and also trying to bag up customer paid orders at the same time, whilst the other member of staff only bagging up delivery orders and shouting to kitchen staff what cooked chicken is needed or is missing from required orders. Theses two employees were working very hard to keep the service flowing, but with ever increasing orders and delivery demands it was becoming an impossible task. The floor space was packed with customers and delivery drivers. The drive through queue of cars was parked bumper to bumper right back to the traffic lights at the main junction. It is highly recommended that before you leave the KFC shop that you check what you had ordered is actually been put in your bag. Staff on my last few visits has not completed the request ordered, which was paid for at the till. You will only discover the error when you unpack your KFC bucket at home. You can't complain by phone and your only alternative is to drive back to the shop then and there. As your family are hungry they may not want to go back out to KFC to complain. So check your order before leaving the KFC branch.

Clean place inside and well set out one way system for take away orders, whilst a second marked out serving location for delivery pick up. Well screened till location for payments by card. Second screened section for collecting your order by friendly staff. You may still order your required food orders at the two stand alone computer screens.

Clean toilets available but tight for a wheel chairs access. Sitting in eating is now acceptable. Outside eating on bench seating is now permitted. Hand sanitizer available at entrance door, exit by offside fire exit door. Outside large free car park with disabled parking spaces nearer to the main door. Drive through ordering...

I won't lie, this place has gone seriously downhill over the years. Up until recent times (a year ago) I never had a problem with the food here and have been coming here since it first opened. However the tables have turned drastically as this past year I've had food poisoning 3 times from this place and I'm not the only one, many of my friends have shared the exact same experience too. A re-evaluation of how this food is cooked and staff hygiene would be a strong suggestion of mine to say at the least. What I don't get; Hedge end KFC - immaculate. Food is great, texture is great. Thornhill KFC - Food is meh, texture is hit or miss, vomiting almost guaranteed. I only go here now if its a Sunday as its open until 11pm and hedge end are open until 9:30pm. Something really isn't right here and needs to be looked into. Customer service is hit or miss like everything with this place, staff turnover is laughable, seems like there's someone new serving me every time I go in. I won't comment on that too much but just a wee bit strange. All in all a bit of a shambles, wouldn't recommend people to go here as you might just get a nasty food poisoning like me and many others! Hopefully a comment like this will draw them to get their act together as this once weekend sanctuary of mine has visibly degraded in quality. It wouldn't be Thornhill KFC now if it wasn't filled with those delinquent chavs from across the block either, you'll likely find them sat on the benches out the front at all hours of light during the daytime and in great numbers too! They may just ask you for a cigarette or a bag of crack to support their mums drug habit. Sort...