KFC — Restaurant in Austin

I don't know anything about what happens in the kitchen of any given KFC, but the KFCs where I've eaten produce amazing consistency of the product across the United States and in far-flung places like Mexico, South America, South Korea and India. Though KFC tries various combinations & permutations of its dishes, its signature products like biscuits, mashed potatoes & gravy, and especially the original recipe fried chicken with the Colonel's secret blend of eleven herbs & spices are immutable cultural icons. They are the anchors of a global chicken empire. And they are the recipes for which we beat a path to KFC's doors around the Planet.

Because of this sacramental consistency in this catholicism of poultry, I assume that not much creativity happens behind the counter at any KFC in North or South America or in Asia. Technology may have streamlined the liturgy, but the service and its sacrament follow Colonel Sander's dogma to the letter. I have eaten at KFC many times over a long blessed life, and avian culinary gods willing, will continue to do so because the consistent results delight me.

I marvel at how KFC complements its kitchen magic with logistical miracles, complex supply chains, & international sourcing to produce a product that is the same whether I buy it in Kansas City or Kuala Lumpur. Yet this consistency also must produce a remarkably uniform procedure for employees.

I was thrilled on my last visit that chicken and waffles were back. I love waffles, and I love chicken, and as an amateur culinary ethnographer, I was eager to try this dinner and/or breakfast combination that's a signature dish in various regional cuisines scattered across the US. I was not disappointed: my syrupy waffles perfectly complemented the Colonel's masterpiece.

In all the excitement at trying chicken and waffles for the first time, I didn't notice they had forgotten my mashed potatoes and gravy. And that's the other point to my ode to KFC's consistency: kitchen operations are largely a matter of connecting the dots provided by their computer's logistics. How can they forget to give me my smash? Or, having forgotten, how can they not notice there's an orphaned cup of potatoes on the line and bring it out to me? (In a hospital, this is the sort of error that leaves surgical sponges inside OR patients.) In the microcosm of my reviews, this demotes a five-star review down to four — was someone stoned?

The epilogue is a happy one. Like most fast food restaurants, KFC practically begs for feedback. Receipts have grown a foot to accommodate URLs, gratitude, and cajoling to fill out an online survey about the dining experience. My brief polite mention of missing mashed potatoes resulted an hour later in a warm, professional, and polite email that promised to make things right. As promised, a few days later a voucher for $5 arrived in my mail to compensate for the missing spuds. Will I go back? Of course! Five bucks is a lot of money where I come from. And I could never abandon my chicken religion. It's just too tasty. And unlike Forrest Gump's chocolate box of life, with KFC I know exactly what I'm going to get (except when they...

I had an incredibly frustrating experience at this KFC drive-thru. I arrived at 9:30 PM and attempted to order a 12-piece family meal. The employee told me it would take 20 minutes, which I was fine with, so I parked directly in front of the drive-thru to wait.

After 20 minutes, I returned to the speaker, only to be told it would take another 5 minutes. Again, I waited patiently. During this time, only one other car went through the drive-thru, and since the lobby was closed, I knew for a fact that there wasn't a sudden rush of customers. At this point, I started feeling like they were intentionally stalling, possibly trying to close early, even though the drive-thru was supposed to stay open until 11 PM.

When I returned after the additional 5 minutes, the employee suddenly claimed that "too many people" had placed orders and that I would now need to wait an additional 35 minutes for a family meal. This was clearly a lie, as I had been parked right in front of the drive-thru and saw very few cars come through. It was obvious they just didn't want to serve me.

At this point, it became a matter of principle. I told the employee I was willing to wait the 35 minutes, but this time, I would place my order first instead of waiting in my car. As soon as I said this, she sighed loudly in frustration. When I told her to stop with the attitude, she continued being rude and dismissive. After asking her multiple times to be respectful, she finally refused to take my order altogether.

I knew the entire time that I could have driven to another KFC just 8 minutes away, but I stayed because it was a matter of principle--I shouldn't have to drive elsewhere just because employees don't feel like doing their jobs. After being refused service, I finally went to the other location, and as expected, I received my food within minutes of paying--no hassle, no attitude, just proper service.

The dishonesty, disrespect, and lack of professionalism at this location were completely unacceptable. If they don't want to serve customers properly, they shouldn't keep the drive-thru open until 11 PM. The way I was treated was beyond unprofessional, and I won't be returning. I'd advise others to take their business elsewhere.

The photo is one of the two female employees who were being disrespectful, trying to close shop quickly when its 9:30pm and they closed at 11pm. Both attempted to gaslight me as if any sane person would wait over 20m for fast food fried chicken that clearly should not take that long I ended up driving to the KFC 8 minutes away after making my review and got my food minutes after paying.

A KFC with no chicken is crazy and it takes over 20m to make a...

It doesn't deserve this 1 star but it wont let you post without it. Where do i start i was told to come inside no more orders being taken through the drive thru i get inside to stand at the counter for 15 minutes a older lady young boy and girl was there the boy and girl walked out from the counter and the boy said i dont work here both looking at me laughing i continue to stand there while staff in the back sings a song loud full of curse words for everyone to hear finally the older lady walked up from behind me and says sorry ma'am we are closed i put a sign on the door saying we closed at 8:30pm when the door says open 10-11 i was so upset i threw my arms up and walked out very disappointed because i was going to have to explain why i was late on my lunch break smh never again will i waste time going there again they have the worse staff ever and im usually happy with KFC but not these new people that they hired they will run all the...