A new restaurant is in the works for the former KFC on West Jefferson Street in Springfield. Lexhol Inc. applied for a liquor license to operate a restaurant listed as Bite and Brew, which was approved March 3 by the Springfield City Council.
The 1850 W. Jefferson St. property was acquired in February 2025 by MWAA Inc. of Ellsworth, Illinois, for $200,000, according to Sangamon County tax records. The address listed for MWAA Inc. is the headquarters of Midwest Electronics Gaming, which is an operator of video gaming terminals. According to the company’s website, it has more than 300 locations in Illinois. Calls and emails to Midwest Electronics Gaming seeking comment were not returned.
The building has been vacant since the KFC closed suddenly in 2024, when EYM Chicken Operations and its parent company, Yum, shuttered multiple locations throughout central Illinois. The Jefferson location was one of three Springfield KFCs that were closed.
Last year, Aaron Francis of Bloomington announced plans to open a Pop Up Chicken Shop restaurant in the former KFC property as part of a planned expansion in central Illinois. However, Francis recently told Springfield Business Journal that he no longer planned to open a Springfield restaurant “any time soon.”
“I had a building, but there was too much crime and vandalism happening to the building, so I backed out,” Francis said. Pop Up Chicken currently has restaurants in Bloomington and Peoria.