LEE’S FAMOUS RECIPE CHICKEN OPENS NEW LOCATION IN MONTICELLO WITH OCT. 1 GRAND OPENING

Longtime local owners bring Lee’s back to town

MONTICELLO, KY, UNITED STATES, September 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- For 60 years, Lee’s Famous Recipe^® Chicken has grown one community at a time. This fall, that story comes back to Monticello, led by the neighbors who missed it most. A group of local owners, including Monticello Mayor Kenneth "Kenny" D. Catron, will open the new Lee's at 296 Cumberland Crossing on Monday, September 28th with the Grand Opening celebration scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 1.

The comeback started with a conversation. When the town's previous Lee's closed about five years ago, it left a gap that residents felt. A group of local business owners and community leaders agreed Monticello needed a quality chicken restaurant again, and instead of waiting for someone else to fill it, they decided to bring Lee's back themselves.

Monticello has been missing good fried chicken, and everyone loves Lee's," Catron said. "We're excited to bring a familiar favorite back home."

The ownership group reads like a directory of the people who keep Monticello running. Catron, who also works as an insurance agent, leads a team that includes Dr. Dustin Wells, an emergency physician at Wayne County Hospital and EMS medical director; Brandon Gehring, who runs an Amazon delivery service partner business and served eight years with the Monticello Fire Department; Dwight Gregory, a retired city street foreman and owner of Gregory's Towing and Auto; and City Councilman Allan K. Hopper, a partner in Happy Hoppers Coffee & More. Zach Crouch, Brandy Branscum, Marlene Coffey and Derek Dishman round out the group.

For Wells, the return is personal. He grew up eating at Lee's with his father, and now he wants to give his own family the same tradition. "I have fond memories of eating at Lee's with my father as a young boy, and I hope to create those same memories with my own family," Wells said. "We're thrilled to bring Lee's back and keep investing in the town we grew up in."

That kind of hometown commitment is exactly what Lee's looks for in its franchise partners.

"Monticello is the kind of story we love to tell in our 60th year," said Ryan Weaver, CEO of Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken. "These owners saw what their town was missing and stepped up to bring it back. They already take care of this community every day, and now they'll do it with a box of Famous Recipe chicken. We're proud to welcome them to the Famous Family."

The Monticello Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon cutting at 9:30 a.m. on October 1st. Guests can expect the same fresh, never frozen chicken that has landed Lee's among the top 10 fast food fried chicken brands in the USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice Awards four years in a row.

For more information about the new Monticello location, visit www.leesfamousrecipe.com, find them on Facebook at Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken - Monticello, KY, or follow @leeschicken.monticelloky on Instagram.

About Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken
For 60 years, Lee’s Famous Recipe^® Chicken, a quick service franchise founded in Lima, Ohio, has specialized in fresh, never-frozen chicken. Lee’s has been recognized for three years in a row as a top 10 Fast Food Fried Chicken by USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Award. Today, there are more than 130 Lee’s Famous Recipe^® Chicken locations in 12 U.S. states and in Canada, most are individually owned and operated. For additional information, please visit www.LeesFamousRecipe.com.

Brianne Badenjki
Ink Link Marketing
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