My sister and I have been waiting for this location to open up since Bonchon in NoVa got us hooked on KFC.
We've been to this location twice for dinner and I'm a little disappointed in the food. I expected service to be abysmal considering we went on the first day they opened and once more during their first week so the stars are based solely on the food.
So far, we've had the seasoned fries, takoyaki, chicken katsu, and the soy garlic wings.
The seasoned fries were a fail. While they had a nice flavor, they were too hard from being fried for too long. It was also absurdly expensive at $7. I'd rather buy a bag of frozen fries at a grocery store and fry them up myself.
The takoyaki was decent. I prefer takoyaki to be a bit more crisp on the outside than how Bonchon makes them and the bonito flakes were lacking but the flavor satisfied our craving.
The chicken katsu could be better. The portion was generous but just like the fries, the cutlet was fried for too long and it was incredibly hard to eat. It's also fairly pricey and there are other restaurants in the Charlotte area where you can get better and cheaper katsu.
As for the chicken wings. we were devastatingly disappointed. You could tell they were trying to skimp on portions because we had pieces that were as long as our thumb. I remember other Bonchon locations had wings that were comparable to this location's drumsticks. The coating is also disappointing. One of the most memorable things about Bonchon in NoVa was how crisp and thin the chicken coating was. Our chicken actually stayed crispy 9 hours later when we ate the leftovers for breakfast and we were hoping this location could replicate that experience. However, the chicken coating here is much thicker, similar to Chinese double fried chicken. While the chicken can stay crisp for a few hours, it's difficult to eat because it hardens rather than retaining the same texture.
Overall, I think we're hesitant about visiting this location again because the quality of the food here does not justify the high prices. It's worth driving to NoVa to satisfy that KFC itch.