5Amp said:

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Picture of a cat at a KFC in a foreign country doesn't make me hungry

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Kentucky Fried Cat.

TXAG 05 said:

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MouthBQ98 said:

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Have you driven around suburbs in Texas,

I have seen virtually the same retail business park/strip center copy/pasted a thousand times. It's a random mix of about 10-20 of yhe same chain stores and restaurants. The same look, the same signage, franchises and retail chains. Bland, predictable, boring. Copy/paste. It's what Americans want now. Easy and repetitive.

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Every fast food place used to have their own unique building design. Now everything is the same rectangular tan box with a bump out in the companies color. They are all the same design, just different accent color and signage.

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This isn't a corporate problem, it's a regulation problem. They build like that because the zoning, subdivision, etc. regulation compliance cost/timeframes are insane. Once you know you can get Plan A approved and built it no longer makes sense to develop a Plan B and fight for its approval for years before you can get the permits to build it.

torrid said:

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akm91 said:

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Chick-fil-A does a pretty good job of having two drive thru lines as well.

Taco Cabana food is pretty terrible now. A couple of years ago I went to the one in Richardson and it was so bad that I've not had it since. Just went to Fuego's last weekend when I was down for my son's graduation and the food was very good and came out fast!

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I used to love Taco Cabana. I moved from Texas some time ago, but I went to one while visiting a couple of years ago. It was awful.

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Taco Cabana is gone almost all of them are closed

normaleagle05 said:

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This isn't a corporate problem, it's a regulation problem. They build like that because the zoning, subdivision, etc. regulation compliance cost/timeframes are insane. Once you know you can get Plan A approved and built it no longer makes sense to develop a Plan B and fight for its approval for years before you can get the permits to build it.

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Plus it's easier to find a new tenant if the old one goes out business. The buildings all look the same so you can just move right in .

Dungeon Crawler Carl said:

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This is the Hello Kitty & Friends themed KFC in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico

A KFC was transformed into this and became so popular people would wait hours to enter or even go through the drive thru

The KDC sold special combos, limited edition collectives and had special… pic.twitter.com/lSNQC7uMGk

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) May 14, 2026

Quote:

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America used to do interesting fun stuff like this all the time, now we don't do anything

Our fast food places used to have their own identities, they were fun and vibrant. Now everything is just corporate slop with no identity

America doesn't take risks, businesses need to stop playing it safe and do fund still like this again for Americans. Bring some life back into our country

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Innovation and risk taking is what this country used to do extremely well. What happened and more importantly how do we get back to doing it again?

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It certainly still exists, maybe you have heard of Buccees. That said most people like a consistent experience in food so they are less concerned with it but those who can brand well often profit from it. Torchys is another example.

Queso1 said:

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Sanrio (Hello Kitty parent company) World in Japan was…something.

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I heard it's not aging gracefully.

Is that city safe to visit for gringos?

Fightin_Aggie said:

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torrid said:

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akm91 said:

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Chick-fil-A does a pretty good job of having two drive thru lines as well.

Taco Cabana food is pretty terrible now. A couple of years ago I went to the one in Richardson and it was so bad that I've not had it since. Just went to Fuego's last weekend when I was down for my son's graduation and the food was very good and came out fast!

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I used to love Taco Cabana. I moved from Texas some time ago, but I went to one while visiting a couple of years ago. It was awful.

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Taco Cabana is gone almost all of them are closed

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Oddly, the Taco Cabana owners decided they preferred Pollo Tropical, and sold TC to someone else. We've eaten at PT several times in Florida, and enjoyed it. We knew they'd closed shop in Texas, and wondered what was up, so we did a little research. Fiesta Restaurant Group sold Taco Cabana in 2021 so they could grow the Pollo Tropical brand. They then sold PT to another company in 2023.

Article about Fiesta Restaurants selling Taco Cabana.

I really liked Taco Cabana, they had a competent Carne Guisada, and I was disappointed when it went off the menu.

That TC at Bitters and 281 used to be a PT. Hated to see them change it, as it was one of the better quick lunch options near us.


Edit to correct location. Bitters and HEIMER is Bill Miller.

MouthBQ98 said:

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Have you driven around suburbs in Texas,

I have seen virtually the same retail business park/strip center copy/pasted a thousand times. It's a random mix of about 10-20 of yhe same chain stores and restaurants. The same look, the same signage, franchises and retail chains. Bland, predictable, boring. Copy/paste. It's what Americans want now. Easy and repetitive.

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I'm not sure it's what Americans want, but it is a function of cost and ability to get a building up, tenants in and income flowing.

It's easier to build the same thing multiple times over than to build something unique every single time. Materials are cheaper, design is cheaper, construction time is faster, etc. That's just a basic math type of thing. And, generally, the owner/developer of whatever shopping strip or building you are talking about has either loans they need to get repaid or they outlaid cash and need that cash back to go build something else somewhere, so the faster they can generate income, the better.

Dungeon Crawler Carl said:

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Quote:

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Innovation and risk taking is what this country used to do extremely well. What happened and more importantly how do we get back to doing it again?

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What are the odds you go to that Hello Kitty KFC and run a better than average chance that you will get wrapped up in some ghetto trash fight or that you have to speak ebonics and wear shoes with suction cups on them to keep from falling down on the grease coated floors?

Cat is on the menu at KFC's in China.

kag00 said:

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5Amp said:

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Picture of a cat at a KFC in a foreign country doesn't make me hungry

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Kentucky Fried Cat.

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True. But that's as much a byproduct of the compliance as it is a planned feature.

goodags85 said:

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Fightin_Aggie said:

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torrid said:

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akm91 said:

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Chick-fil-A does a pretty good job of having two drive thru lines as well.

Taco Cabana food is pretty terrible now. A couple of years ago I went to the one in Richardson and it was so bad that I've not had it since. Just went to Fuego's last weekend when I was down for my son's graduation and the food was very good and came out fast!

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I used to love Taco Cabana. I moved from Texas some time ago, but I went to one while visiting a couple of years ago. It was awful.

---

Taco Cabana is gone almost all of them are closed

---

Oddly, the Taco Cabana owners decided they preferred Pollo Tropical, and sold TC to someone else. We've eaten at PT several times in Florida, and enjoyed it. We knew they'd closed shop in Texas, and wondered what was up, so we did a little research. Fiesta Restaurant Group sold Taco Cabana in 2021 so they could grow the Pollo Tropical brand. They then sold PT to another company in 2023.

Article about Fiesta Restaurants selling Taco Cabana.

I really liked Taco Cabana, they had a competent Carne Guisada, and I was disappointed when it went off the menu.

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I ate at Pollo Tropical once. But then their ads had some slump shouldered fat dude in a wife beater, and I couldn't eat there anymore cause all I could think about was his pit stink.

I totally understand but it's very depressing in a way. Boring. It's not just the structures themselves but the franchises too. I guess we like knowing what we will find no matter what suburban area we might shop in.

Reminds... driving in Tokyo in 2013 ... saw a lot of KFCs... one or two had a Col. Sanders statue dressed as a Samurai.

Got my attention, but not enough to dine-in.

Coog97 said:

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Nothing tops the KFC in Marietta, GA

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The Big Chicken. A historical landmark that was hit by a tornado and KFC had to build it back because of the uproar. Directions used to be given, "Two blocks north of the Big Chicken" etc.

About two miles from the house.

It was clean and nice, but simply bizarre and held zero interest for this father.

Monterrey, please don't eat my cat...

Saw this today. Interesting development. Time will tell if it has legs.

We're so back.

An entrepreneur is restoring Pizza Huts to their former glory. pic.twitter.com/viJcpwtEVt

— Matt Braynard (@MattBraynard) May 16, 2026

Do they sell tortillas there?