A look inside KFCs radically modern makeover of the Colonels classic recipe

A new KFC restaurant in McKinney, Texas, is about much more than debuting a new design.“This is the Kentucky Fried comeback made real in one restaurant,” KFC US President Catherine Tan-Gillespie told Fox News Digital.The restaurant, dubbed Open House, serves as a testing ground for how the 75-year-old fast-food chain that Colonel Harland Sanders founded might modernize without abandoning the things that made it famous.KFC’s challenge isn’t necessarily getting Americans to remember the brand.It’s getting them to think about it when deciding what to eat today.“There is a massive love for this American icon,” Tan-Gillespie said.

But in the US, she added, “we tend to be thought about in people’s memories.We’re not actually being considered in eating moments of today.”That tension between nostalgia and relevance helped shape Open House.

In developing the restaurant, KFC started with a question.“We sat back and said, you know, if the Colonel were building a restaurant from scratch today, what would this look like?” Tan-Gillespie said.The answer incorporates Art Deco and mid-century modern influences alongside large glass windows, digital ordering and drive-thru technology.At the same time, the restaurant features lobby hosts, table service, booths and outdoor dining designed to encourage customers to gather.“For me, the philosophy is that we should be digital where it’s helpful, but human where it matters,” Tan-Gillespie said.

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The menu follows a similar philosophy: Hold onto KFC’s most recognizable products while experimenting with how customers want to eat chicken now, Tan-Gillespie said.Buckets and the chain’s original recipe remain central, but Open House expands into tenders, wings, sandwiches,...