KFC’s wacky new restaurant is all about chicken fingers and sauce

With 11 sauce flavors and an unabashedly loud brand, KFC’s new spin-off restaurant, Saucy, is looking to hook a new generation of chicken lover.

[Source photo: Saucy]

By HUNTER SCHWARZ 2 MINUTE READ

From the outside, KFC’s new restaurant concept Saucy looks nothing like KFC. Inside, the fried chicken chain is putting a sauce-first spin on its menu.

Opening December 20 in Orlando with more locations to come, the restaurant has a pink exterior with a logo that looks like it could have been written out in sauce, while the interior is decked out in bright pink, red, and orange. It’s loud and bright, and KFC says the restaurant’s markedly different look is meant to communicate to diners that the standalone concept is new and different. Saucy puts sauce front and center, offering chicken tenders with a choice of 11 different sauces, from Peri Peri Ranch and Creole Honey Mustard to Sweet Teriyaki.

[Photo: Saucy]

“Sauces are the star of the show at Saucy, and they allow us to offer something truly unique,” KFC’s chief concept office Christophe Poirier tells Fast Company. “Our customers have the freedom to experiment and personalize their meals—mixing and matching sauces is encouraged.”

[Photo: Saucy]

As for the restaurant’s unconventional design and color scheme, Poirier says it was designed to be a “welcoming space that would resonate with today’s younger, adventurous diner.”

“We embraced a vibrant aesthetic that’s playful and dynamic with pops of pink and even tech-forward kiosks for an immersive dining experience,” he says.

[Photo: Saucy]

Chicken has become an increasingly popular—and competitive—fast food item since 2019’s chicken sandwich war. Even Taco Bell, which is owned by KFC’s parent company Yum Brands, announced this week it’s getting into the space, selling its own tortilla chip-breaded crispy chicken nuggets for a limited time.

KFC ranked third among fast food chicken chains by market share last year behind Chick-fil-A and Popeyes, according to Barclays, and its same-store sales for the chain fell in the U.S. in the first three quarters of 2024, hence the new concept. With such a crowded market for fast food chicken, it’s leaning on sauce as a key differentiator. Earlier this year KFC announced Saucy Nuggets in five flavors, and with Saucy, KFC says the restaurant’s 11 sauce flavors means diners have more than 4,000 ways to customize their order.