Ask anyone who knows me, and they will tell you that I ask EVERYONE who knows me for restaurant recommendations.

If it’s not how I greet people on the phone, it’s the way I say goodbye.

“Oh, hey — eat anywhere new lately?”

I jam it out fast, an afterthought, just as they’re about to put the figurative receiver down. (Phones don’t have receivers anymore, so allow me to pause here and thank my print readers, 100 percent of whom will get this reference.)

And recently, a friend recommended Chicken 92, a simple, fast-casual joint on Orlando’s West Colonial Drive. The growing franchise has locations from Queens to California.

Its primary menu item: Korean-style fried chicken.

Chicken 92 is not a new place here in town.

As with many Orlando gems, you’ll find 92 Chicken in an aging shopping center with great reward inside its humble exterior. They still haven’t completely changed out the signage. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

In fact, it wasn’t even new to me.

I’d written about them, very briefly, a little over three years ago in a piece about Chicken Wing Day. I went back and read the story to shake the memories loose.

At the time, they’d just barely switched the branding over from the previous name, Kim’s Wings & More, but I did remember liking the soy garlic. And that the staffer had noted the entire menu hadn’t come online just yet.

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Well, folks, said menu has blossomed.

These days, there are many flavors available at Chicken 92 — soy garlic (still the most popular), honey garlic, hot BBQ, curry and a fun one called “cheeseling” that I tried on that first visit, in which the chicken is tossed in a Cheeto-like cheese powder. There are others, as well, and in addition to the sauces, Chicken 92 also does toppings.

One of them is an unholy amalgam that I promise will be calling to you from the ether of your diet-destroying dreams.

It is called Snow Onion.

The snow onion topping at 92 Chicken, seen here atop a pile of red hot pepper wings, is the reason I visited and the reason I’ll go back. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

It is a creamy concoction, magically sweet and savory, rife with texture, freshness and brightness.

If you take your wings to go, it will come in a separate container, which will make sense once you are Among The Initiated (which feels like it needs capitalization).

In fact, you can purchase the Snow Onion topping all by itself and take it home. And once you try it, that will make sense, too.

On my visit, as we scarfed, my lunch companion and I — amid a veritable drift of crumbled napkins — rattled off a long, Forrest Gumpian list of things we’d put the stuff on, from burgers to hot dogs to barbecue.

The setup at 92 Chicken is clean and fast-casual. Everything is made to order, so don’t expect your food in two minutes. Do expect it to be hot and crispy and fresh. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

The onions, shaved almost tissue-thin, come bathed in this velvety, honey-mayo elixir, all of it piled generously atop the wings, which are hand-floured and fried to order.

“It felt like forever until they got to the table,” the initial recommender opined.

It wasn’t that long. I’m pretty sure he was just really hungry.

That said, this is not KFC.

Soy garlic wings with the spring onion topping, another fine recommendation from the staffer at 92 Chicken, located on West Colonial Drive in Orlando. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

If you go, expect really good chicken, super hot, super fresh, but you will have to wait some time, depending on the crowd. If you’re not the patient type or have limited time, know thyself, and order ahead online.

Me? I’ll wait.

The only Chicken 92 wings I want in a box are the ones I’m leaving with because I couldn’t finish the pile that came in the paper-lined basket.

I ordered mine with the red hot pepper sauce, recommended by the friendly, helpful young chap manning the counter.

The mandu were a big hit with my dumpling-loving children. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

“They’re my favorite,” he said. “And also the spiciest.”

“Sold!” I said, adding an order of the soy-garlic with spring onion topping.

Do not fear the red-hot pepper. They have nice kick and great flavor, but for true heat aficionados, they’re not overly spicy at all.

When our new friend came to ask about the food (In a fast-casual joint? So nice!), we discussed and he revealed that the sauce is not off-the-chain.

They were out of gizzards, so I grabbed some fried calamari to go. Lots of sauces to choose from for dipping. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

“They’re the only ones that make me feel anything,” he said. And we laughed.

One might expect a little more fire in a place with “Korean” in the name, but this growing franchise (I believe this one is local family-owned but was unable to reach anyone to confirm) knows its audience is wide.

The same goes for this location.

When we arrived, it was empty save a group of 10 or 12 young Korean men and women amid a chowdown. The table was overflowing with baskets of fries and wings in various shades of sauce.

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By the time our wings hit the table, the place was filling up for a formidable Sunday lunch despite the rainy weather. Our young host was in the weeds, scrambling for customers of all stripes, all ages, all backgrounds.

Several were packing up containers of the Snow Onion to take home.

The neighborhood clearly knows and supports this place — and for good reason.

The wings are hot and crisp. They lack the lacquered hardcore of some other Korean-style places, but the crunch is audible. And seriously: You’re gonna want to let these cool beneath their mountain of cool-from-the-fridge Snow Onion deliciousness, the summit of which is adorned with the South Korean flag.

The Cheeseling wings I tried at 92 Chicken back in 2022. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

The wings warm the sauce. The sauce cools the wings. Try them separately, then together, then marvel at how the conversation disappears. No one talks. They’re barely breathing between bites. This stuff is enchanted. It belongs in an updated version of “Frozen” and deserves its own Idina Menzel belter.

“There’s a thing about it,” my friend opines in reflection. “It’s like the onions have no astringency, just this celery-like quality that, along with the sauce, creates this Buffalo wing-type experience, but merges the celery and the blue cheese or ranch with the chicken.”

The flavors are different, but he’s spot-on. These are powerful observations.

The soy garlic with the spring onion was really enjoyable, as well. Good for the folks who don’t go in for creamy, there is sweetness and the twin snaps of the fried chicken and the beautiful green shoots on top.

Red hot pepper wings with snow onion topping: craveability is off the charts. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

There are Korean dishes here, too — bulgogi, japchae. The fried mandu were crisp, the calamari nicely done. I’d hoped to try the curry sauce with that, but they were out. Same went for the gizzards

I will be back, but truthfully, I might not try anything else (except maybe a whole chicken, which I could take home with my new favorite condiment).

I snow all I need to snow about this place.

It’s the kind I don’t at all mind shoveling.

Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.

If you go

92 Chicken: 5510 W. Colonial Drive in Orlando, 407-440-2733; 92chickenfl.com

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/27/orlando-restaurant-review-92chicken-amy-drew-thompson/