KFC Opens First Breakfast-and-Boba Prototype in Texas

KFC has opened a 3,400-square-foot prototype restaurant in McKinney, Texas, that serves breakfast, boba tea and cronuts for the first time in the chain's history. Executives call it a testing ground, not a finished blueprint.

The location, dubbed "Open House," sits off Eldorado Road in the Dallas suburb. It reworks all four Ps — product, place, price and promotion — simultaneously. "To me, this is the comeback plan that we have started all made real in one restaurant," said Catherine Tan-Gillespie, President of KFC U.S.

The firsts stack up quickly. It is KFC's first restaurant to serve breakfast, its first with true table service, its first to pour boba tea, and its first to offer cronuts and Krunch shakes. It also features a dedicated Celebration Booth with customizable, digitally enhanced photos surrounding diners like a mini Times Square.

Not every addition will survive beyond this single North Dallas location. "This particular restaurant is showcasing the art of the possible, but it's not a blueprint. This is the testing ground for us to try those things and see what works best," Tan-Gillespie said.

A simpler menu

One test is menu simplification. Every combo at Open House comes standard with fries, a biscuit, a dip and a drink — eliminating the guesswork about what each item includes. The stated goal is twofold: customers understand exactly what they are getting, and employees no longer memorize dozens of variations.

Simplification does not mean fewer choices. The location serves the Twister and Premium Sandwich, Southwest Corn, Fried Green Beans, Rainbow Coleslaw and Spicy Pickles, plus a reworked mashed potato recipe. The drink lineup includes lemonades, mango and cherry boba refreshers, and Krunch shakes. A swag bar sells exclusive KFC merchandise, including a pair of fried chicken-print socks.

Reworked access points

The drive-thru got a redesign too. Open House runs dual drive-thru lanes alongside a separate walk-up window and a dedicated mobile pickup lane. Executives admitted the combination does not fit every location. "This is a way for us to figure out what works best by location," one executive said.

A leaner kitchen

Behind the counter, the changes cut into franchisee economics. A new oven doubles as a rethermalizer, cutting the equipment franchisees need to buy in half. A sauce-dispensing machine built by a California startup drops three sauces into a container and seals it automatically, replacing assembly-line squeeze bottles. Every register, kiosk and kitchen screen runs on Byte, the point-of-sale platform that CEO Chris Turner has pushed across Yum! Brands.

Winning back lapsed fans

The strategic goal extends beyond operations. "KFC lives in people's memories, and not so much in the moments of today," Tan-Gillespie said. "The brand is loved, but it's latent." The building's design — skylights, succulent gardens and red fins reminiscent of tail feathers — aims to draw customers in to stop, eat, chat and stay a while, as they did when the Colonel was behind the counter.

If the McKinney experiment delivers, the changes validated there could shape how the chain looks, cooks and sells across the U.S. for the next decade.