KFC

Located by the Amtrak waiting area, in kind of a dingy interior combining KFC, Taco Bell on one counter, Pizza Hut, and Nathan’s and Tim Hortons on another, this is clearly your run of the mill low brow depressing fast food experience. The seating area is often not cleaned but behind the counter, there is an almost sterile type of environment which lends to an «A» DOH rating.
Now, knowing my food is safe, this is generic mass market fried chicken. Nothing too special about it. The new Nashville Hot Chicken did have a nice kick to it and they put in a valiant effort… Still nothing to write home about but it satisfies that craving. The wedges are nicely crispy. The mashed potatoes taste like it comes from a bag, mashed to all hell, goopy and perfectly fine for what it is.
Fast and convenient, and not much of anything else, it’s a decent choice in Penn Station.

This location seems somewhat unclean but I think its mainly because it’s in an area of Penn station where the homeless tend to congregate. The staff do a decent yet inconsistent job of cleaning tables after they are used (sometimes its all clean, sometimes all filthy). This particular location is sometimes out of a lot but on this visit they thankfully had everything my group wanted, including the new Nashville hot chicken. It’s clearly got nothing on a real restaurant like Peaches Hot House but was still more interesting than normal KFC.

(Review is of the location near the LIRR… I believe there is another one near Amtrak).
Had the rare craving for greasy fried chicken (comfort food) so decided to make a stop here. Here was my experience:
Me: I’d like a 3-​piece chicken tender meal, please.
Her: 3-​piece chicken tenders?
Me: Yep.
Her: You don’t want the meal?
Me: No, I want the 3-​piece chicken tender meal.
Her: Drink?
Me: Diet Coke, please.
Her: Pepsi?
Me: No, Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi is fine.
(she proceeds to get my order while talking loudly in a foreign language with the other cashier… puts the meal on the counter and…)
Her: Drink?
(Clearly she can’t be talking to me, so I ignore her.)
Her: Drink? (Looking squarely at me)
Me: Yes! Diet Pepsi!
She put in some random sauces so I told her I wanted Honey Mustard. She asked no hot sauce? I said no. Not all Indians like everything spicy!
I come back to my office and open the box and realize she just gave me the default side of french fries, which I really did not want. I wanted the mashed potatoes (and believe that was what was pictured on the board). $ 9 for a terrible experience and wrong order… not really comforting to me. Next time (hopefully in a blue moon) that I have this craving, I will try the other location near Amtrak.

1 star. The cashier didn’t seem to understand English.
No matter how many times we repeated what we wanted, she just didn’t get it. At least they have pictures on the menu, so you can point as the last resort. I saw another upset customer nearby frowning because they made him wait for a long time, only to serve him the wrong thing. They gave the wrong item to him for free, while they made the correct item and made him wait AGAIN.
Tip: you might want to bring a long stick here so you can point at the correct food items on the menu.

Taco Bell and KFC combined. At the bottom of Penn Station. The only reason I really come here is to stock up on hot sauce or when i have a fried chicken craving that just will not go away. I’ve been to all the fancy fried chicken places in New York. KFC’s proven formula (when fresh!) just scratches a spot that nothing else can reach.