‘Welshpool McDonald’s is absolutely smashing it!’: the best and worst UK fast food outlets

theguardian.com:

Name: Britain’s worst KFC.

Age: The fast food chain was founded in 1952.

Appearance: From the outside, a KFC like any another, off the Chestfield roundabout in Whitstable, Kent.

And from the inside? A perfect storm of rude staff, poor service and “oozy, greasy food”.

That doesn’t sound ideal. This one has been deemed the UK’s worst KFC, with more than 100 “terrible” ratings on Tripadvisor, and an average of just 1.5 stars out of five.

What are the punters saying? “Horrendous”, wrote one. “Will not go back,” said another. “Worst fast food restaurant I’ve ever been to.” All from the past few days.

What’s the problem? Reading between the lines, it appears to be a staffing issue. The place often closes without warning, there are long waits at the drive-thru and orders are often wrong.

A temporary difficulty? Apparently not. Kent Online reported on this in January, at which point a KFC spokesperson said: “This certainly isn’t up to the colonel’s standards and we’re sorry to see these reviews.”

So is it really the worst KFC in the UK? It may not even be the worst KFC in Kent. One Gillingham branch has 75 terrible ratings out of 108 Tripadvisor reviews (“Probably the worst KFC on the Planet” – Tinak125), and the KFC in Sandwich got five terribles out of six.

I thought the whole point of fast food was bland consistency. Why this standout awfulness? Actually a 1.5 average is not uncommon for a British KFC outlet, and they rarely get above three. The Salford Shopping City branch has a one-star average, ranking last out of all 131 restaurants in the city.

There must be exceptions. There are. The KFC in the Avenue Retail Park, Bradford, has a 4.5 rating, albeit from just seven reviews.

What are they doing right? “Probably the best thing about