KFC — Restaurant in Vadnais Heights

They were out of original recipe chicken when I went through the drive thru tonight. At dinner time. For the second time in my last three visits. That's a little bit like going to Pizza Hut at dinner time and being told one can't get pizza. Or going to Burger King at dinner time and being told that one can't get a hamburger. It's actually pretty freakin' ridiculous. It's dinner time; figure it out! Unless they really don't like customers and money--then they're doing a bang up job.

And no, you can not give me Extra Crispy instead. If I had wanted Extra Crispy, I would have said "Extra Crispy" when I ordered; as I understand it, that's how the process of ordering works. If you want to give me Extra Crispy at half the cost...then I'll think about it. But of course there was no such offer.

Not only that, but the person who took my order had to take it again at the window, because apparently he didn't enter it when I gave it to him the first time. And then, when I gave it to him for a second time, I watched the order appear on the monitor behind him...and he didn't even enter it correctly. Not that it really matters, since they couldn't even fill my desired order in the first place.

This franchise is generally poorly run; at other times (not including today) I have experienced them being out of chicken (tonight was not the first time), received incorrect orders, had long wait times (both inside and at the drive thru), and been given old/cold food. I like KFC, despite the fact that I know I probably shouldn't eat it. Maybe they're doing me a favor by trying to get me not to come back...if so,...

While the food and price were pretty good, they have NOT gotten their online pre-order and pick-up procedures working well at all.

TL;DR - 35 minutes after designated online pickup time we finally got our food.

We ordered and pre-paid online and we're given a specific pick-up time. We waited a bit, and then arrived at the appointed time. We called as instructed. They couldn't find our order by the order number so we had to re-read the items in our order over the phone. Then we were told to wait in the drive-thru line. That had about 10 cars in it and moved very slowly. It took 25 minutes to reach the remote mic where we again had to re-read our order items.

Five minutes later we were finally at the actual window. We got our beverages, but the food wasn't ready! They left the window open and we could hear the workers inside calling out the items to finally start putting our food order together, which took another 5 minutes. They hadn't even started it after we had been at the remote mic.

So, finally, 35 minutes after the pickup time they provided we were driving away with our food. Granted, at least it was hot and fresh and hadn't been sitting under a heat lamp for 35 minutes. But we could have gotten our food much quicker by not spending time ordering online, waiting for the time they said, and then waiting in line with the other people who were starting their orders at the remote drive-thru mic. Having to read the order items back twice, after ordering and paying online, also...

This KFC has beyond a doubt the greatest famous bowl makers in the state, likely the country, and possibly the world. Typically the first bite of a KFC famous bowl is great, then downhill from there; but not at this KFC. Every upcoming bite is exploding with flavor unlike anything I've experienced. It is what dreams are made of. The freshness of the chicken makes me believe those things were raised on a yacht in the bahamas, lived a full happy life then gladly offered their lives to be enjoyed in a Vadnais Heights MN Famous Bowl. The potatos are so fluffy and creamy you would think that they are made from the clouds in heaven and gifted upon us by God himself. The gravy, oh don't get me started on the gravy. If someone told me that every drinking fountain in the world was going to be replaced with the gravy in this bowl, I would think I had died and gone to heaven. The service here is second to none. I would hope these workers are being carefully scouted by restaurant chains all across the land. The amount of proffesionalism yet subtle kindness is the perfect mixture. It feels like, yes, I am here for business, yet also we are family. I would litterally take giant pay cut to work at an establishment near this KFC so i could embrace the Famous Bowl daily. I had to double check my receipt when they told me the total. $5.37.... wow.....this kind of service for less than a couple energy drinks. Unreal. Vadnais Heights KFC, I tip my hat to...