It's worth noting that KFC in other countries is often better than the greasy mess we typically find in the US. Same with McDonald's in my experience as well.
For the last 20 years or more, the KFC nearest to me has been known to the locals as a place to avoid at all costs. They've had 2 periods of revival, in the month after new owners took over, neither lasted more than a month or so. The default state is under cooked food, high prices, and shitty service. They have a policy of shorting orders and shorting change; it must be policy, random error would happen in the customers' favor sometimes.
I'd suspect they were a cover for some illegal activity, but if they are its happening at some higher level that I cannot perceive.
There's good and bad, just like everywhere else -- excluding South Korea. Korean fried chicken is simply next level.
- aggressive expansion of corporate-owned stores
- very clean and modern toilets with a “free to use” policy
- vertical integration: nearly every product became 7-11 branded.
- better quality of food in general, especially hot items
- fresh coffee, brewed to order
Of course, they fired that guy for a penny pincher and the quality took a dramatic nosedive to the point that shitty 7-11 products are a meme now. Things like bentos with a bottom that curves upwards to make it look like there is more product than there really is, sandwiches with filling only in side the visible from the shelf, shrinking onigiri, or “strawberry pulp” that is literally a picture of strawberry pulp printed onto the cup.
Nearly all of the other brands consolidated into Famima, and now Famima is competing on quality to take advantage of the situation. It was amazing how quickly they got their act together when they realized what was going on at 7.
They’ll probably get their act together sooner or later; McDonald’s in Japan had an extreme turnaround for the better after years of poor management and scandals.
They also have some type of coffee shop/pastry joint inside, where you seat and the waiter brings the food.
It’s definitely not good for you, but it’s tasty.