The Gas Station Chicken Wings That Might Beat Your Favorite Chain

Chicken is big business in the United States. In 2023, the top nine fast food chicken places sold well over $40 billion combined, per QSR Magazine. Amongst all the crispy chicken sandwiches and buckets you can buy, chicken wings still rank as one of the top choices. People who like chicken wings like them a lot. Making them stand out in a saturated field is no easy task, which is why it's all the more impressive that Krispy Krunchy Chicken is so good.

If you've never seen a Krispy Krunchy Chicken restaurant, it's for a good reason. They don't exist. The company refers to itself as a program. You become a licensee through your own business, which is typically a convenience store or a gas station. You can also find the chicken being sold in delis and some supermarkets. Licensees are provided equipment, if they need it, and then given the supplies and directions on how to produce the chicken.

Tasting Table ranked 15 fast food chicken wings, and Krispy Krunchy came in second overall. Our taste tester had initially dismissed the wings after a lackluster first try, but went back for more and got a fresh-cooked batch, which made all the difference. Not only were they priced better than most chain wings, our reviewer thought they were actually the best of all the wings ... but they lost points because they don't travel or sit as well as Tex's wings.

Krispy Krunchy Chicken is available in over 3,200 locations. That means that after KFC (with just under 3,800 locations), Krispy Krunchy is the second-largest chain in America. Popeyes has just under 3,100, and Chick-fil-A is at 2,500. The chicken is infused with a mild Cajun marinade at the supplier and then hand-breaded at the store to ensure consistency across the many locations where it's available. It's never frozen, so the idea is to give you a fresh, tasty product, and it definitely delivers. At least most of the time.

As our taste tester pointed out, if you get a piece that's been under the heat lamp for a while, it's not going to blow you away. Once fried chicken sits and steams too long, the breading loses that crunch, and the juiciness just isn't there. Because of how it's sold, that's always going to be a concern. Ask for fresh, if you can get it, and you'll taste the difference.

Other reviews agree that the chicken is crispy and juicy, even if the spice is mild. Krispy Krunchy readily describes the spice as mild, though. Others have agreed it's better than Popeyes or KFC, so our taste tester was not alone. Still, you can sometimes find criticisms that the "chicken is always dry," which is probably due to time under the heat lamp, and it really affects the overall experience. There is a real stigma attached to the idea of gas station food, which brings to mind those roller hot dogs or something unsanitary. After trying Krispy Krunchy Chicken, we stand behind ranking it among the best fried chicken places in the country. Try it yourself and see. Just remember to get it fresh and hot.