---
title: "KFC Asked a Bold Question: What Would the Colonel Build Today? Here’s the Surpising Answer."
url: https://burnaze.com/article/9ebf8bf2-903b-43c8-b126-8fb947c2407c
source: "Entrepreneur Franchise"
original_url: https://www.entrepreneur.com/buying-a-franchise/kfc-is-asking-what-would-the-colonel-build-today
author: "Jonathan Small"
category: "Chicken"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Chicken"
published: 2026-06-12T16:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-10-31T20:02:55.590Z
image: https://www.entrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/kfc-colonel-open-house-0626_g2253787117.jpg
---

# KFC Asked a Bold Question: What Would the Colonel Build Today? Here’s the Surpising Answer.

**TL;DR:** KFC is opening a reimagined restaurant in Texas called Open House to test the brand's next decade, featuring table service, a drive-thru, and new menu items. The concept is part of KFC's comeback, with three quarters of positive same-store sales after seven straight quarters of declines.

*By Jonathan Small, originally published in Entrepreneur Franchise on 2026-06-12. [Read the original](https://www.entrepreneur.com/buying-a-franchise/kfc-is-asking-what-would-the-colonel-build-today).*

## Story

This summer the chain opens a completely reimagined restaurant in Texas to test what the brand’s next decade looks like.

KFC’s comeback is no longer just about stopping the bleeding. Three quarters of positive same-store sales after seven straight quarters of declines, U.S. President Catherine Tan-Gillespie is already asking: “What would the reinvention of KFC look like if the Colonel [Sanders] was here today?”

The answer is a new modern restaurant prototype called Open House. According to Restaurant Business, KFC plans to open the test location this summer in McKinney, Texas, near Yum Brands’ Plano headquarters. The concept will feature table service, a drive-thru, new menu items alongside signature offerings and a new restaurant design. “It’s the reinvention of product, promotion, and place,” Tan-Gillespie told RB.

Open House will initially be company-owned, but a KFC franchisee has already agreed to develop one as well. KFC also has at least 100 menu innovations currently in consumer testing, with more expected to roll out in the next six to 12 months.

## Entities

- QSR (sector)
- franchise development (topic)
- Entrepreneur (publication)
- texas (location)
- menu innovation (topic)
- KFC (company)
- Yum Brands (company)
- restaurant redesign (topic)
- McKinney, Texas (location)
- Jonathan Small (person)
- Catherine Tan-Gillespie (person)
- Colonel Sanders (person)

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Originally reported by Jonathan Small, Entrepreneur Franchise (https://www.entrepreneur.com/buying-a-franchise/kfc-is-asking-what-would-the-colonel-build-today). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/9ebf8bf2-903b-43c8-b126-8fb947c2407c).