At the grand opening of Winter Garden’s Saucy! by KFC at Phillips Crossings at 11 a.m. on Nov. 7, workers were feeling saucy as Orlando opened its sixth location. For the first 50, workers gave away clear goodie bags with merchandise such as a bag charm, mints, a car air freshener, stickers with Saucy! characters, and a coupon for a free snack box once the recipient makes an account with them.
Decked out in Saucy! pink, the restaurant was covered with balloons, streamers, and other party decorations for the grand opening. As the door opened, a sauce bar was waiting to the left with each of their many sauces to try. To keep the good vibes up, DJWay2Lit mixed plenty of popular tunes to dance to.
Saucy! by KFC was created specifically to sell chicken tenders (“tendies,” as they call it) that can be ordered in any way. From a classic three-, four-, or six-piece to wraps and even bowls, KFC’s newest modern concept was designed to appeal to all.
Something else that Saucy! does is create “remixes,” which are new and different takes on already classic chicken dishes. Their featured ones are the “Nashville Hot Mac Sammie Remix,” the “Saucy! Kimchi Chick’ito,” the “Saucy! Naan’wich,” and the “Tendie Walking Taco,” which is a bag of Tostitos Salsa Verde bite-sized nachos with lettuce, chicken, and a choice of sauce. These can be ordered individually or in combo form, with a drink and crinkle-cut fries.
Drinks at Saucy! also have their own twists on them, as they offer sodas with popping boba, such as the “tropicana rainbow splash lemonade,” which was a blueberry-flavored, tart drink that we were able to try. The popping boba wasn’t too overpowering, but it added even more tartness to an already tart drink. They also offered seasonal beverages, such as the “candy corn glow up,” while also having normal fountain drinks on hand for anyone to enjoy.
We had the opportunity to try the six-piece combo with a variety of flavors and one of their snack sammies, which is just half a sandwich with all the flavor. The chicken by itself was flavorful, and the breading was light and airy. As KFC is known for its crunchy, thick coating of breading around its pieces of chicken, this was surprising. The fries were seasoned with salt and were crunchy enough to be satisfying.
Of the 12 sauces to choose from, we tried four of them individually and one combined with the snack sammie. The four sauces were Korean Sweet Heat, Creole Honey Mustard, Smokey Bacon Ranch, and, of course, Saucy’s Sauce. Each had its moment to shine and complemented the chicken in different ways. The Korean Sweet Heat was the most flavorful, mixing tang and spice into a dip, and mixed shockingly well with the Smokey Bacon Ranch. The Creole Honey Mustard brought a twist to normal honey mustard by adding a bit of tang to it. Back to the Smokey Bacon Ranch, which serves as a savory addition to any of their menu items; it is definitely one of Saucy!’s top sauces. Saucy’s Sauce was tasty, like a Thousand Island or Cane’s sauce, and is a safe option for those who don’t know where to start.
As Saucy! by KFC keeps growing, the franchise continues to get larger followings from its exact audience: Generation Z. With the large variety of options throughout the menu, it would take a solid month to get sick of it.
Other Saucy! by KFC locations in Orlando include ones in Winter Park and Altamonte Springs. See more locations and read their menu HERE.
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