The independent restaurant group born from a grandmother’s kitchen in Arkansas, built city by city on Kevin Kelley’s own terms, arrives at 7 Times Square — 10,000 square feet, Summer 2026
NEW YORK, May 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Before there was a restaurant, there was a grandmother. Born in Arkansas and raised in Texas, Kevin Kelley learned to cook at age seven at her side — not from a textbook, not in a kitchen classroom, but from a woman who understood that food is how you show people they matter. She taught him that flavor is care. That a meal well made is an act of love. That when you put a plate in front of someone, you are telling them: Welcome Home.
Forty years later, that lesson has become one of the most talked-about dining brands in America. Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley — America’s Best Comfort Food — is opening its ninth location at 7 Times Square in New York City this summer. The 10,000-square-foot space at the corner of 42nd Street, Broadway, and Seventh Avenue — formerly home to Pink Taco — will be the largest, most visible location in the brand’s history. And it was built the same way every other location was: without outside investors, without a franchise model, and without compromising a single thing that made it worth building in the first place.
THE FOOD & THE KOCKTAILS
Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley serves what Kevin Kelley promises is the best Southern comfort food in America — and the guests who have filled his rooms from Dallas to Miami have not argued the point. The menu is anchored by soul food traditions elevated with refined technique and bold, uncompromising flavor. The Crispy Fried Chicken and Waffles is golden, impossibly crispy, and deeply satisfying in a way that reminds you why the dish became a classic. The Blackened Shrimp and Grits with Lobster Tail layers the smokiness of the South with the richness of the coast — every bite a full story. The Jamaican Jerk Lamb Chops arrive with a heat that builds slowly and a char that lingers.
The cocktail program — the kocktails — are as deliberate as the food. The Peach D’Ussé Frosé is frozen, rich, and built on one of the most celebrated cognacs in the country. The Gold Old Fashioned reimagines a classic with elevated ingredients and a finish that earns a second round. And the Blackberry Margarita — Kevin’s personal favorite — balances tart, sweet, and spirit with the kind of precision that keeps it the most reordered drink at every bar the brand has opened.
“Every city we’ve opened in has become home. New York is where the world watches. Opening at Times Square isn’t just an expansion — it’s a statement. We built our way here, one city at a time, on our own terms. We can’t wait to humbly welcome New York home.”
— Kevin Kelley, Founder & Owner, Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley
WHERE IT BEGAN
Kevin Kelley’s culinary story begins not in a fine dining kitchen or a culinary institute, but in the South — in the warmth of a family home, under the guidance of a grandmother who immersed him in the art of feeding people from the time he could stand at a stove. She didn’t just teach him recipes. She taught him reverence. The reverence for good ingredients, for the people sitting at your table, and for the Southern traditions that turn a meal into a memory.
That foundation — Arkansas roots, Texas upbringing, a grandmother’s hands — is present in every dish Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley has ever served. It never left him. It is in the food. It has always been in the food. Every dish carries the weight of where he came from and the standard of someone who was taught, from the very beginning, that what you put on a plate is a reflection of how much you care.
NINE CITIES. ONE VISION.
In August 2020, Kevin Kelley opened the first Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley in Dallas, Texas. There was no venture capital behind it. No franchise roadmap. No playbook borrowed from anyone else. There was a vision, a standard, and a culture — and the discipline to protect all three as the brand grew.
Today, Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley operates in Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Charlotte, Philadelphia, and Miami — with Boston and New York City both opening Summer 2026. When Philadelphia opened, more than 10,000 reservations were booked before the doors unlocked. That number is not a marketing statistic. It is the sound of a community that was already waiting.
Every location carries the same signature: the iconic rose wall, live music, handcrafted kocktails, and the Welcome Home greeting that has turned first-time guests into regulars in every market the brand has entered. Celebrities, athletes, and cultural icons — among them Jesse Jackson, Tina Knowles, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Meg Thee Stallion, Klay Thompson, 50 Cent, Joseph Sikora, Phylicia Rashad, Malik Nabers, Dak Prescott, Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Maxey, Kawhi Leonard, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, and a host of entertainers, athletes, and cultural icons. — have all found their way to a Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley table. Not because they were invited to a PR event. Because the food is that good and the room feels that right.
7 TIMES SQUARE
Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley has taken over the 10,000-square-foot space at 7 Times Square, formerly home to Pink Taco. At the junction of 42nd Street, Broadway, and Seventh Avenue — a location that draws more than 50 million visitors annually — this is the brand’s most visible address yet. Steps from Bryant Park, the Broadway theater district, and the Times Square–42nd Street subway station, the New York location is built to carry the full Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley experience: the live music, the rose wall, the handcrafted kocktail program, and the warm, vibrant dining culture that has defined every room Kevin Kelley has ever opened.
Reservations open on May 5th at kitchenkocktailsusa.com/newyork.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 9 cities: Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Charlotte, Philadelphia, Miami, Boston (Summer 2026), New York City (Summer 2026)
- 10,000+ reservations booked before Philadelphia opened its doors
- 10,000 square feet at 7 Times Square — formerly home to Pink Taco
- Built entirely without outside investors or a franchise model
- 1,200+ influencer relationships across all markets, ranging from micro-creators to creators with audiences in the millions
About Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley
Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley is America’s Best Comfort Food — an elevated Southern comfort food restaurant brand founded by Kevin Kelley in Dallas, Texas in August 2020. Born in Arkansas and raised in Texas, Kelley learned to cook at his grandmother’s side from the age of seven, developing a deep reverence for Southern culinary tradition and the belief that food is an act of love. Known for its Welcome Home greeting, iconic rose wall, signature kocktails, live music, and vibrant dining culture, the brand has expanded to nine cities across the country — entirely founder-owned and operated. The New York City location opens Summer 2026 at 7 Times Square. For reservations and more information, visit kitchenkocktailsusa.com.
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