Times Square will soon be home to elevated comfort food, when Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelly opens its ninth location at 7 Times Square this summer.
The 10,000-square-foot space at the corner of 42nd Street, Broadway, and Seventh Avenue — formerly home to Pink Taco — will be the largest, most visible location in the brand’s history, the company said. And it was built the same way every other location was: without outside investors or a franchise model.
The eatery will serve what Kelley promises is the best Southern comfort food in America. The menu is anchored by soul food traditions elevated with refined technique and bold, uncompromising flavor. The cocktail program — the kocktails — are as deliberate as the food, including a Peach D’Ussé Frosé, the Gold Old Fashioned and the Blackberry Margarita .
“Every city we’ve opened in has become home,” said Kevin Kelley, founder and owner, Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley. “New York is where the world watches. Opening at Times Square isn’t just an expansion — it’s a statement. We built our way here, one city at a time, on our own terms. We can’t wait to humbly welcome New York home.”
Kevin Kelley’s culinary story begins not in a fine dining kitchen or a culinary institute, but in the South — in the warmth of a family home, under the guidance of a grandmother who immersed him in the art of feeding people from the time he could stand at a stove. In August 2020, Kelley opened the first Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley in Dallas. There was no venture capital behind it. No franchise roadmap. No playbook borrowed from anyone else. There was a vision, a standard and a culture — and the discipline to protect all three as the brand grew.
Today, Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley operates in Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Charlotte, Philadelphia and Miami — with Boston and New York City both opening Summer 2026.
