Kentucky Fried Chicken
6265 E 500 S
Gas City, IN 46933
http://www.kfc.com/default.asp

I recently dumped off the kids for a weekend with my mother, and she lives in Fort Wayne, so we met halfway for both the drop-off/pick-up. It happened to be at the Gas City exit off I-69. I arrived about a half hour early Sunday for the pick-up in hopes of getting some Cracker Barrel (our meeting spot). Instead, there was a 20-minute wait, so I hopped over to the KFC/Taco Bell combo. And, yes, I realize I didn’t give myself near enough time for Cracker Barrel, but I figured it was worth a shot — and you can’t expect me to not sleep in with the kids away. Anyway, lots of things on the menu seemed appealing at the time, but I love chicken wings. Considering that I love spicy food but I’m also burnt out (yes, pun intended) on buffalo sauce, there seemed to be a great option …

What I Got: KFC Sauceless Hot Wings; 50 cents apiece (I got 10 for $5).

On the box, it said “spicy” and “crunchy.” It was half-correct. The breading had a great crunch and the chicken was cooked to perfection. That’s where the positives stopped.

First of all, they need to clarify. Does “hot” mean that the chicken’s temperature is hot? If so, OK, they aren’t lying — but I’m obviously being sarcastic. The wings are billed as spicy and it’s like they forgot the spice. Considering the wings are sauceless, the spices are supposed to be inside the breading already. I was actually excited — which, in and of itself is sad, I realize — to try these because they would be hot and crunchy. Swing and miss somewhere during the process, though, because these were basically just plain, sauceless wings. No exaggeration, I got zero kick. I actually checked my receipt to make sure there wasn’t a communication breakdown in the ordering process. There wasn’t. It still says “hot” on my receipt.

Secondly, where is the meat? These things were tiny and oddly shaped. Look at the picture where I’m holding that one sideways. That’s a drumstick and it’s flat. How does that even happen? It’s just weird. [Note: Yes, I took the picture on top of a laid out napkin in my car, in the Cracker Barrel parking lot. I'm awesome.]

Would I Buy It Again? No chance. I still love KFC if you want fast-food-type chicken, but I will never waste my time on these things again. I felt like I only had about three plain wings. The concept of sauceless hot wings with the spices baked into the breading still very much appeals to me, but I can’t take the chance on a wasted meal at KFC again. I guess at 50 cents a pop you truly do get what you pay for.

-Show

4907 North College Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46205
http://www.recessindy.com

Recess has received very few mentions on this blog because quite simply, I have yet to go.  There was a lot of anticipation around the opening and I usually try to make opening night, however they have been open for 5+ months and I have yet to pass through the doors.

The menu changes daily and the average price is around $40-$50 for a already established three-to-four course meal.  On Monday nights, they have special events that stray slightly off course from their fine dinning roots.  For instance, Mexican night, Picnic, etc.

When I heard they were having a fast food night, I had to give it a try.  After all, I thought that it was somewhat of a reflection of this blog, some fast food and some fine dinning.  The premise was to take signature dishes form fast food places and put the Recess spin on them.  For instance, McRib = BBQ Pork Belly.  Get it?  Cute.

What I Ate:  Long John Silver’s.  Fried fish and Hush Puppies; $10.  I also ordred a to go order of KFC fried chicken, biscuit, cole slaw and mashed potatoes and gravy; $10.

Let me first explain my expectations:

1.  This food would be better than the fast food counterpart.

2.  The food should be in the top 20% of similar dishes that I have had.

3.  For $10, there would be generally enough to eat for a light meal.

Really dark inside…  The LJS

I love fish and chips and will admit that I hit up LJS about two-to-three times a year to get my fix outside of normal orders at restaurants.  This version was two small pieces of fish and two hush puppies.  I found the hush puppies to be dry and bland.  The fish was moist, however the breading didn’t stick to the fish and it fell off all in one piece.  This is usually from not drying out the fish before frying it and I can’t imagine that they skipped this part, however the proof is in the pudding here.

The KFC dish was equally disappointing.  When I think of KFC, I think of a bucket of chicken, pulling out the leg Fred Flintstone style and having a bite.  Recess’ interpretation is that KFC is known for chicken fingers.  I was confused by this.  There were two chicken fingers that were laid on top of the mashed potatoes and gravy which made them soggy.  I like the flavor of the breading, but couldn’t get over the gloopy mess that was in front of me.  The cole slaw was super acidic and I didn’t care for it.  The biscuit was dry and there wasn’t enough gravy there to sop it up with the biscuit.

They tossed in a dessert for everyone that was there, which was a little “DQ” ice cream sundae.  Ice cream with chocolate sauce, butterscotch and nuts.  This was the best thing of the meal, however it melted in three seconds.  You would think that they would keep the ice cream dish cold, but I thinked they grabbed mine straight from the dishwasher station because my bowl was warm, and of course the ice cream was going to melt.  Fail.

Service also had their issues.  I ordered my meal thinking that one order would be enough food and I was wrong.  The same server explained the evening and let them know that you should order two-to-three items if you would like a full meal.  That would’ve been nice to know.  Also, I specifically asked for my KFC order to be separated (so those chicken tenders didn’t suffer the same fate) and when I got home and opened the box, they didn’t accommodate my request.

Would I Buy It Again? I am torn here. I enjoy their creativity and what they are doing, but this meal was a catastrophe from top to bottom.

Then again, what if a fast food place tried fine dining, I am sure that would suck too.

Poor service lead to inaccurate expectations of the evening and I would’ve probably preferred the fast food version of what they made.  I will try Recess again on a normal night to prove my initial impression right or wrong.

To be fair, they are critically acclaimed and worth a try so you can formulate you own opinion, here are some more favorable reviews:

-wibia

KFC’s Double Down sandwich gained the company attention in the media but accounted for no more than 5% of the chains total sales.  When WIBIA gave the Double Down a no rating, he said one of the reasons was that the bun was missed.  Adding to KFC’s sandwich menu is the new Doublicious sandwich, similar to the Double Down, but this time with a bun.

What I Got:  Doublicious Sandwich $3.49

KFC is advertising this sandwich as having a sweet and savory taste.  The sweet comes from a large Hawaiian bread bun and savory, which I believe is code for salt, comes in at over 950 mg.  Covering the sandwich was a narrow fried chicken fillet, two small pieces of bacon, a piece of Monterrey cheese and a sauce that was mayonnaise based with a hint of mustard.

The sandwich had only a small amount of the sauce, the thick Hawaiian bun was dry and tasted no better than a half stale hamburger bun from the grocery store.  The chicken fillet was thin and narrow covering the middle portion of the bun leaving edges of the dry roll with nothing on them but the cheese.

Would I Buy It Again?  Never. There was little taste to a sandwich counting for nearly a whole day of allotted sodium and the sweet Hawaiian roll dominated the taste.  Like the Double Down where WIBIA said, “The Colonel’s Sauce reminded me of the sauce from an Awesome Blossom/Blooming Onion.  Nothing special.”  If the Colonel was alive today, I think he would questions whether to by a sandwich again at KFC.

-EatHSE

People that I work with that never talk about food, yet were talking about this.  So from the standpoint of marketing buzz, congrats KFC.  Let’s get down to business.

Price is $4.99 for sandwich only (in the great state of Indiana at least).

A little pricey compared to most chicken sandwiches, but consider there is double the chicken, so it should be expected.  I hate to say it, but if you know what Original Recipe KFC tastes like and bacon and pepper jack cheese…there are really no surprises.  Most reviews that I have seen say the cheese is gooey.  On mine, they just sat the slices of cheese on it, so no gooeyness.  The bacon was a joke and I couldn’t even make out a single strip.  The bacon was also dry, overcooked and I couldn’t find a piece that was bigger than a stick of Trident.

Every review so far thinks that it is salty…they are right.  This is being said with my version’s lack of bacon. The chicken was one of the better pieces of chicken form KFC that I have had lately.  However, I wasn’t blown away by the size of the sandwich and I felt like I wanted something else after I ate it.  It just wasn’t filling, stop rolling your eyes.

The Colonel’s Sauce reminded me of the sauce from an Awesome Blossom/Blooming Onion.  Nothing special.

Would I Buy It Again?  No. Why?  1.  I missed the bun.  2. Very little value.  3. I’d rather spend my daily allotment of sodium on something else.  4.  I think they are lying when KFC states it is only 540 calories…how?!?!

Overall, it wasn’t bad…but it just wasn’t that great.

However, I like Brand Eating’s idea of getting a biscuit of the value menu for $0.99 and splitting up the sandwich.

Hungry for more Double Down reviews?  Check out the Impulsive Buy for the links.

-wibia

Where is the bacon?!

I really struggle to believe that Subway has such a market presence that they can set the bar on what an acceptable price is for a meal.  $5 Foot-Long Promo has made KFC and Pizza Hut both offer options at $5.00 and I have a bad feeling there is more to come.  We talked about the P’Zone and liked it, now on to KFC.  Before we start and just to confirm, I still dislike Subway.

KFC has 4 Options for their $5 Fill Up Box:
2 Piece (white or dark)
5 Hot Wings
3 Original Recipe Strips
Twister Wrap

You also get a medium soda, choice of side and a biscuit.

I ordered the 2 piece white with mashed potatoes.  I really like KFC mashed potatoes, always have, always will.  Because I ordered mashed potatoes, I didn’t get a kick ass box, I got a normal tray.  I asked for honey and for some reason I got a package of grape jelly.  Odd, because what do they use grape jelly for?!?  Maybe a biscuit.

So is this a good deal?

Off the normal menu – 2 Piece White, 2 Side, biscuit is $5.89 (no drink)
Medium Drink is $1.49
Total: $7.38

Lets drop a side item to equal the contents of the Fill-Up Box
$7.38 – $1.49 (price of a side) = $5.89  (back to original cost of the meal above, just switching a side for a drink).

Yes and no. In someways, it is like having a 89¢ coupon.  Let me ask you this, if they gave you an $.89 coupon, would you go?  Probably not.   However, if you order the dark meat 2 piece 2 side meal, you actually come out a loser.  Your best deal here is getting the normal meal, skipping the soda or take it to go and drink a generic soda for about 20¢ a can and calling it a day.

Would I Buy It Again?  I don’t know! (our first one) This is almost all marketing, but it is smart for KFC to do.  If I wanted a soda and didn’t mind dropping a side, then it makes sense.  If I want water or am taking it to go, I will probably stick to the conventional meals.  However, for $5, I was pretty content.

By the way, the chicken was actually pretty good.  Nice sized pieces, moist and they were really hot as if they were freshly cooked. Original recipe still hits the spot from time to time.  However, KFC may have the worst customer service in the biz.

-wibia

If your order mashed potatoes, they give you a plate. Still a $5 Fill Up.

Long story short, they are not going to honor the coupon and instead of chicken, you get a rain check. No grilled chicken for you!! You Tube clip will give you more info.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdFJjeLYVjk

Official KFC Site

-WIBIA

I drove past my local KFC today on the way home  and it was packed.  Not a parking space to be found and the drive thru was about 12 deep.

Check out the parking lot.  You can see the drive thru line as well on the far right.  Chill people!

-WIBIA

Free 2 piece grilled meal if you go to this site and print the coupon before 5/6/09, 9:59 cdt.

The Link:  Unthink KFC.

Thanks to EatHSE for the pic.  Those legs look tiny!

-WIBIA

Since this is my first post, I figured I’d write about something that was once near and dear to my heart but that has since changed since I dropped 150 pounds.  I hope you like it!

What I Ate:     8-piece original recipe chicken family meal (comes with 2 sides and biscuits); side items of cole slaw and a side salad.  $16.99

A while back, KFC made a big deal that the were changing the oil in their fryers to trans fat free oil just like other fast food chains had done.  They said that the taste difference in the use of different oil would only be slight and most customers would not notice a difference.

At first glance, there is nothing out of the ordinary from the new oil change, but when you look deeper, you will notice a change.  Original recipe chicken used to have a firm, but also somewhat soft textured breading that had a little kick to it in the flavor department.  With the new trans fat free oil, their breading is now soggy and bland and really lacks the punch of the old breading.  In all honesty, this is no better than supermarket chicken in terms of blandness (I’ve been made two trips several months apart to verify this taste change).

Not only have they changed the oil and taste, but they’ve started to skimp on the size of the chicken pieces.  It would appear that KFC feels that price and not taste is the major driver because a lot of their pieces, the chicken legs specifically, now look like they’ve come straight from Lindsay Lohan’s body.  In the old days, I could eat five or six pieces of original recipe along with some small portions of my side dishes and be feeling pretty full.  Now, I can bury all eight with no issues whatsoever and still finish the ENTIRE side dish servings.  This is embarrassing to me personally and should be embarrassing to KFC as well since they’ve shrunk their pieces down so much.

As for the side dishes, they run both hot and cold.  Their coleslaw is always a mainstay in my book and I order it every time I go.  It tends to be a little bit on the runny side, but the taste is outstanding.  It’s relatively crunchy, chopped into tiny squares (different than a lot of slaws that you see out there) and has a great tangy flavor.  You can never go wrong here.  The salad was an abomination and biscuits are biscuits in my mind.

Would I Buy It Again? No.  For the original recipe chicken, but yes for the coleslaw.  Original recipe is all but dead to me.  The coleslaw is a winner though and that will always stay on my must order list.

Instead:  KFC does have several other chicken dishes worth trying (sandwiches, wings, etc.), so that’s enough to get me to go back to the restaurant to try other things.  For fried chicken, I don’t know since KFC has always been my bread and butter.  I’m told Popeye’s is outstanding, so give them a shot.

Additional Rambling:   I’ve always found the employees of KFC to be very entertaining.  Seriously, have you ever been to a well-run KFC where they haven’t run out of at least one thing?  I know I haven’t.

-IndianapolisEater