A Wingstop customer who called out a location’s food preparation process is receiving blowback from those who don’t think the restaurant’s setup is that big of a deal.
TikToker Briana Hernandez (@brianahernandez992) believes this technique is responsible for the dissatisfaction she’s experienced with this particular Wingstop. However, plenty of users on the app didn’t seem to buy into her criticism, and a number of them said they’ve never received cold or pre-cooked Wingstop food.
“The workers leave the batches of wings and fries ready so when people order they just start taking everything that has been sitting on the baskets to make the orders,” a robot voice narrates as Hernandez records the kitchen situation at the Wingstop restaurant. The clip shows several baskets filled with food either getting ready to be re-dropped to heat up, or to be plated as is.
The TikToker added further context to the situation in a caption for the video, writing, “If you are wondering why your food is always cold Wingstop was not busy at all so for that amount to be laying on those baskets I wonder how many people were gonna go home to cold orders.”
She’s not the only one complaining about cold Wingstop food: A Redditor uploaded a post with a picture of the “underdone fries” they are “always” served whenever visiting the chain to the site’s r/Wingstop sub.
@brianahernandez992 If you are wondering why your food is always cold 🙄 Wingstop was not busy at all so for that amount to be laying on those baskets I wonder how many people were gonna go home to cold orders 🤔🤔 #Wingstop #wingstop #fyp #fypシ #fypage #fypシ゚viral #viraltiktok #viral ♬ original sound – Briana Hernandez
They said in their rant that receiving crispy food that feels recently cooked was a rare occurrence in their ordering experience.
“Our local wingstop has only given us well done crispy fries one time in dozens of orders,” they said, before adding, “We always order well done and the come limp and pale. Yesterday they came cold soggy and underdone. I swear either no one follows instructions or they don’t know how to deep fry french fries.”
However, some commenters who responded to Hernandez’s video didn’t think that there was anything wrong with the way the food was prepared.
One individual stated that what was occurring was a clear instance of “double-frying” in action.
“It’s called double frying fam,” they commented. “You fry most of it at a lower temp to get it cooked, then finish it in a hotter oil to get it crispy. Common practice especially in wings.”
According to America’s Test Kitchen, “Double frying is the key to extra-crispy chicken…[as it] helps with [the] evaporation process. By letting the chicken rest and cool between the dips in the oil, additional water evaporates from the skin. When you put it back in to finish frying, the rest of the water evaporates, which allows the skin to brown and crisp quickly before the meat overcooks.”
According to a user in a Quora forum post about the cooking process at Wingstop, employees at the restaurant are instructed to “double drop” the wings and fries served up to customers.
Other commenters seemed more concerned with the time it takes for them to receive their Wingstop food.
“Then why do they take 57 mins for a 8 piece,” one individual queried.
Another echoed this same sentiment, asking, “Then why do mine take so long?”
Some users said the Wingstops they frequent have a completely different setup from the one shown in Hernandez’s clip.
“Not at my wingstop,” one claimed. “They stay busy.”
“Mine are never cold idk what you talking about,” another wrote, stating that they’ve never had a problem with their food’s temperature.
“Not my wingstop takes 45 mins for anything,” another remarked.
There was another commenter who didn’t think it was such a big deal that the Wingstop restaurant in was preparing their food in such a manner.
“News flash,” they wrote. “All restaurants bulk to a certain extent.. Roadhouse, Native, buffalo wild wings, chilis, applebees.. but they drop it for 30 seconds after its ordered.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Wingstop and Briana via email for further comment.
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