Times Square is getting a serious dose of Southern comfort food. Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley is opening its first New York City location at 7 Times Square on October 3, bringing fried chicken, shrimp and grits, oversized cocktails and plenty of energy to one of Manhattan’s busiest corners.
And this isn’t exactly a tiny neighborhood restaurant.
The new Kitchen + Kocktails NYC will occupy roughly 10,000 square feet across two floors, making it the brand’s largest location yet. The restaurant sits at the intersection of Broadway, Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street, in the former Pink Taco space and just steps from the Broadway theater district.
Founded by Kevin Kelley, the restaurant brand started in Dallas in 2020 and has since expanded to cities including Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Charlotte, Philadelphia and Miami. New York becomes the brand’s ninth location.
So what should diners expect?
Think elevated Southern comfort food with dishes such as crispy fried chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits with lobster tail, Southern fried catfish, crab cakes, Jamaican jerk lamb chops and the decidedly over-the-top lobster and waffles.
Then there are the “kocktails.”
The drinks menu includes the Peach D’USSÉ Frosé, Blackberry Margarita, Gold Old Fashioned and True Flame, which comes with a little theatrical presentation. The restaurant is also bringing its signature rose wall, live music and “Welcome Home” hospitality concept to Times Square.
For Broadway-goers, tourists and New Yorkers looking for a high-energy dinner, Kitchen + Kocktails Times Square is clearly designed to be more than a quick pre-show meal.
It’s Southern hospitality—with a Times Square-sized spotlight.
And if the chicken and waffles don’t get your attention, the kocktail probably will.
