KFC has closed at least 312 U.S. restaurants in the last year, according to an analysis. Some of them were in Florida, but the Sunshine State has seen some fried chicken growth, too.
Local Falcon, an AI search visibility service, compared KFC’s public listing of locations from July 15, 2025, and July 6, 2026, according to a release. Restaurants that had been removed were checked against Google Maps to see which ones were listed as permanently closed. Hundreds of the locations of the famous finger-lickin’ good fried chicken franchise were gone.
KFC, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands Inc., operates more than 34,000 restaurants in over 150 countries.
California lost the most in the analysis, with 44 permanent closures, the report said, followed by Texas with 34 and Ohio with 18. Proportionately, Kansas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Tennessee lost the most of the Colonel’s famous fried chicken restaurants, roughly an eighth of their totals each, Local Falcon said.
However, the analysis also listed Florida as having lost 11 restaurants in the last year. A comparison on July 14 shows a drop of just eight Florida KFC locations since July 1, 2025.
KFC also launched its new spinoff restaurant, Saucy, in 2024 with its first location in Orlando. There are now 15 Saucy locations across Florida.
Which isn’t to say the Sunshine State hasn’t lost some of its chicken places.
Has KFC closed locations in Florida?
KFC surged in Florida in 2023, going from 255 locations in March to 287 restaurants by Aug. 16 of that year, according to archived lists. By February 2025, it was down to 281.
Since then, there have been 12 KFC locations closed in Florida. However, four more have been added.
KFC launches new deals, revamped stores 
As part of its global revamp, KFC is opening a new open-concept restaurant in McKinney, Texas by late summer 2026.
Meanwhile, the chain formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken is making more changes.
KFC is testing an open-concept restaurant in McKinney, Texas, and an “immersive, two-story” restaurant in Dubai. The chain is also launching 20 new sauces and several new beverages in overseas markets, with plans to bring them to the US.
In May, KFC launched a Deal of the Day bucket promotion, and on July 13 it announced the return of its popular popcorn chicken for a limited time.
C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: KFC has closed hundreds of US locations. Any in Florida?