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KFC unveils next-generation restaurant concept in Dubai

KFC is unveiling KFC Muse, it's next-gen, two-story restaurant in Dubai. In partnership with Americana Restaurants, KFC Muse showcases the brand’s evolved global identity through immersive design, technology, hospitality and menu innovation.

Photo: KFC

October 30, 2026 by Valerie Gritton — Editor, Pizza Marketplace

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KFC is taking its restaurant experience beyond traditional quick service with the debut of KFC Muse, an immersive, two-story flagship in Dubai that showcases the brand's evolved global identity through design, technology, hospitality and menu innovation.

Opening Oct. 31 at Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) in Dubai, and through a partnership with Americana Restaurants International, KFC Muse is the first restaurant built from the ground up around the company's new global visual identity.

The concept is designed to offer a preview of how KFC intends to modernize its restaurants worldwide, the company said, with a second location planned for Seoul by the end of 2026.

KFC operates more than 34,000 restaurants across more than 150 countries, and selected Dubai for the global debut as part of its ambition to reshape the quick-service restaurant experience.

"KFC Muse was built to show what happens when design, hospitality, and culture collide at the highest level, while informing how KFC reimagines the experience for individual markets," Christophe Poirier, KFC's global chief concept officer, said in an email to QSRWeb. "The Muse is KFC's next-generation restaurant concept – the first full physical expression of the brand's new visual identity and serves as a beacon for what the future of KFC will look and taste like. Opening the flagship in Dubai – one of the world's most demanding, cosmopolitan, and hospitality-centric markets – is a deliberate indication of our confidence and ambition to modernize on a global stage."

The two-story restaurant puts KFC's new visual identity at the center of an environment designed to evolve throughout the day. Its centerpiece, the Kinetic Bucket, is a digital installation that uses content, lighting and sound to create an atmosphere that responds to the restaurant's energy and keeps the space fluid.

"This next chapter of KFC is moving from static spaces to dynamic environments that adapt throughout the day. Every touchpoint — from arrival to pickup — was built to feel intentional, not transactional," Poirier said. "The Muse provides an opportunity for us to test and play in the restaurant environment, specifically how we can leverage screens to bring innovation to life with colors and textures while using light and sound to bring flavor to life."

Rather than simply introducing new logos and signage, KFC has incorporated its familiar brand assets into the physical experience. Ordering, arrival and food collection also have been redesigned to feel more guest-focused, while technology is intended to simplify operations and give employees more time to focus on hospitality.

KFC Muse also introduces two menu platforms to the UAE market.

KWENCH by KFC, the brand's international specialty beverage platform, makes its UAE debut with a lineup of boba refreshers, Krunch shakes, sparkling lemonades and iced coffees. The handcrafted beverages are designed to give customers reasons to visit beyond traditional meal occasions and attract younger consumers, including Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

The restaurant also marks the global launch of KFC MIX'D, a customizable chicken offering that gives customers control over their flavor combinations. Guests choose their chicken, add one or two sauces and select a finishing sprinkle before mixing everything together. The menu expansion also includes Dipped and Dunked, part of KFC's broader push into boneless, flavor-forward chicken offerings.

Between the additions of the KFC Muse Kinetic Bucket and KWENCH by KFC, customers, "get a space built for co-creation, not just consumption," Poirier said.

Next gen KFC

The menu and restaurant design reflect KFC's effort to create more reasons for consumers to visit while encouraging them to spend more time in the space.

"KFC is a global icon that has captured hearts and delighted the palates of millions across generations," Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Americana Restaurants, KFC's regional operator, said in a press release about the opening. "With KFC MUSE, we are taking that magic into the future. And where better than Dubai, a city that dares to imagine the extraordinary."

The launch also brings Americana Restaurants' QXR vision to life through food, immersive design and hospitality, he said. Americana Restaurants International is one of the largest restaurant franchisees in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), with operations spanning 12 markets across MENA and Kazakhstan. Its other concepts include Pizza Hut, Hardee's, Krispy Kreme, TGI Fridays, Costa Coffee, Baskin-Robbins, and Peet's Coffee.

"Together with Americana Restaurants, we are unveiling the world's first KFC MUSE, bringing our QXR vision to life through iconic food, immersive design, and exceptional hospitality. Our ambition is bold yet simple: take everything the world loves about KFC and turn it into an experience the world has never seen before," Scott Mezvinsky, global CEO of KFC, said in the release.

The Dubai debut will be marked by a rave-inspired opening celebration bringing together food, design, music and culture.

"We're disrupting conventions — moving from QSR, quick service restaurant, to QXR: quality experience restaurant," Mezvinsky said in the release. "That's why we created KFC Muse, an immersive, kinetic restaurant that delivers the experience modern consumers are craving, while retaining the value and efficiency QSR is known for."