Bite and Brew Restaurant Approved for Former KFC Site on West Jefferson

The former KFC at 1850 W. Jefferson St. has a new identity in the works: Lexhol Inc. received Springfield City Council approval on March 3 for a liquor license to operate a restaurant called Bite & Brew at the site, which has sat empty since the chain closed abruptly in 2024.

The Jefferson Street location was one of three Springfield KFCs shuttered when EYM Chicken Operations and its parent company, Yum, closed multiple restaurants across central Illinois that year. The building changed hands roughly a year later, with MWAA Inc. of Ellsworth, Illinois, acquiring the property in February 2025 for $200,000, according to Sangamon County tax records.

The address listed for MWAA Inc. in those records matches the headquarters of Midwest Electronics Gaming, a video gaming terminal operator that, according to its own website, runs more than 300 locations across Illinois. Whether Midwest Electronics Gaming has any operational role planned at 1850 W. Jefferson is unclear. Calls and emails to the company seeking comment were not returned.

Lexhol Inc., the entity that filed for and received the liquor license, is listed as the applicant of record with the city, though no opening date, renovation timeline, or menu concept has been publicly disclosed. It also remains unclear what class of liquor license the council approved or whether any conditions were attached to the vote.

The approval adds Bite & Brew to a short list of redevelopment activity along West Jefferson, a corridor where shuttered chain restaurant buildings have been slow to find new tenants since the 2024 KFC closures.