Dartmouth Corner Eyed for SouthCoast’s Next Kentucky Fried Chicken Location

One of America’s most popular restaurant chains is looking to open up a location in Dartmouth.

Hanover-based D.E. Foods, LLC is seeking variances from the Dartmouth Zoning Board of Appeals to raze the existing buildings located at 263, 265 and 267 State Road and build a 1,755-square foot Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant.

"We would like to be open well before the end of 2022, but we don’t want to put the cart before the horse. We have of approvals to get through first,” said Dan Whitney, Vice President of D.E. Foods, LLC.

Currently, those locations include a parcel of undeveloped land, a private residence, and the former Help-U-Sell Real Estate building.

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The variances requested pertain to development of the property, off-street parking regulations and signage. Looking at the property, it’s safe to assume that the parking lot would likely have entrances and exits located both on State Road and on Tucker Road.

“The conservation commission and all the town departments have been very good about trying to have us figure out the best way we can go forward,” Whitney said. “The town has been quite good. We’ve got to worry about all the different zoning ordinances, and we’ll go before them March 23, but we’ve got our fingers crossed.”

A public hearing is set for Wednesday, March 23 at 6 p.m. in Meeting Room 304 of Dartmouth Town Hall.

Currently, the closest KFC restaurants to Dartmouth are two in Fall River and two in New Bedford.

According to its Facebook page, D.E. Foods, LLC is “a growing family-run KFC franchise for over 30 years and today operates 50-plus KFC and KFC/Taco Bell restaurants in the Northeast.”

D.E. Foods also operates the Wareham KFC restaurant as well as the one in Middletown, Rhode Island. The Wareham location recently finished in the top one percent of KFC restaurants in the country, earning the "Best of the Best" award.

According to QSR Magazine, the industry publication for quick-serve restaurants, KFC ranked No. 14 in sales for quick-serve franchises in a 2021 ranking. Of the other chains ranked ahead of KFC – McDonald’s, Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Burger King, Dunkin’, Subway, Domino’s, Chipotle, Sonic Drive-In, Panera Bread and Pizza Hut – Dartmouth has all but Chick-fil-A, Domino’s and Sonic, and the Pizza Hut location is now closed.

A Chick-fil-A is coming to Fall River later this spring, however.