KFC’s spinoff brand Saucy is opening three more locations in Central Florida and rolling out a refreshed menu design.
This comes a little over a year after the concept debuted in Orlando as a modernized hub centered on customizable chicken tenders with 11 signature sauces.
The latest menu update adds a chicken teriyaki bowl, chicken caesar salad, brussels bites, and pastry puffs. The brand says the new offerings deliver “next level customization,” allowing guests to start with their base—tenders, sandwich, rice bowl, or salad—and then mix and match with any of its sauces.
“At Saucy, we’re not just opening restaurants, we’re building a movement around flavor,” Christophe Poirier, chief new concept officer at KFC, said in a statement. “We’re growing in all directions with new locations, new menu moments, and new ways to make every visit feel fun, fresh, and undeniably Saucy.”
The brand is also leaning more into late-night dining, introducing what it calls “an over-the-top, hand-held feast.” Available after 9 p.m., it’s loaded with queso, fries, egg, and chopped tenders.
Younger diners drive demand
Saucy was built with younger generations in mind. Yum Brands CEO David Gibbs said on an earnings call that the concept is resonating with a younger demographic, noting that about one-third of consumers are under 30.
All locations feature drive-thru lanes, self-serve kiosks, bright interiors, seating areas, and flexible ordering options—including mobile ordering and curbside pickup. The brand has also invested in technology platform, Flybuy, that automatically fires orders to the kitchen based on the customer’s location, the time required to prepare the order, and the chosen pickup channel.
“The QSR industry traditionally starts with the food, then builds on the experience and considers what kind of tools are needed,” Poirier said in a previous interview with Food On Demand when the first Saucy opened. “We took a different approach: What if we started with tech, digital, and AI on day one? We believe that tech and digital would revolutionize the experience for our team members.”
Related: KFC’s Digital Twin ‘Saucy’ Aims to Capture Gen Z
Gibbs shared that sales at Saucy locations are more than double the KFC U.S. system average. At least 20 additional stores are planned, with future sites selected to “allow us to unlock marketing synergies through geographic proximity,” Gibbs said on the earnings call.
