The Burger King at 45 Main St. in downtown Hornell reopened shortly after 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, capping an approximately two-and-a-half-month remodeling project that transformed the fast-food fixture into one of the chain's new Sizzle-style restaurants. The dining room came back online first, while the drive-thru lagged slightly behind schedule.
The restaurant had been closed since July 18, according to the Hornell Evening Tribune, which reported the renovation added digital ordering kiosks, an updated drive-thru, a King Booth and a Home of the Whopper wall as part of the company's Sizzle redesign. The reopening had originally been targeted for Oct. 2, with Burger King initially forecasting the project would take about two months, the paper reported, but technology and communication issues could not be worked out in time, pushing the timeline back several days.
District Manager Theresa Harwood said she expected the Hornell drive-thru to be back in business before the end of the day Tuesday, per the same account. The Hornell restaurant itself is a modest operation by square footage — a single-story, 3,020-square-foot building constructed in 1988 on about a half-acre of land — making it one of the smaller candidates in Burger King's sweeping modernization push.
Dansville's Turn Is Coming by Late October
Hornell wasn't the only Burger King in the region going dark for a makeover. The location at 9509 Foster Wheeler Road in Dansville has been closed since mid-August for a similar Sizzle remodeling project, and a Burger King spokesperson said those upgrades are scheduled for completion by late October, the Evening Tribune reported.
The Dansville and Hornell projects are small pieces of a much larger company-wide effort. Burger King introduced its new Sizzle design images in 2023, with the chain saying the bold, modern design meets the evolving needs of today's consumer, the Evening Tribune reported. In 2025, the company announced plans to remodel about 400 locations as part of what it describes as a multi-year modernization program.
What Sizzle Looks Like Elsewhere
Burger King has rolled the Sizzle look out well beyond the Southern Tier. In Irvington, New Jersey, the location at 500 Lyons Ave. reopened in August after a major remodel featuring the chain's new design, according to NJ.com. That remodeled restaurant includes digital ordering kiosks, an enhanced drive-thru, a designated pickup area, a King Booth, a Crown Wall photo moment and a Whopper art installation. Franchise owner Chris Johnson told NJ.com the Irvington remodel took four months and required the restaurant to be completely closed during construction.
Further south, a Burger King in Porter, Texas, is scheduled to begin renovations in the fourth quarter of 2026, with completion tentatively planned for the second quarter of 2027, according to Community Impact. That location, owned by Shoukat Dhanani, will also be renovated to match the Sizzle design. Burger King's prototype restaurants have also already appeared in Marion, North Carolina, and Las Vegas, as noted by QSR magazine.
The Bigger Bet Behind the Remodels
The Hornell and Dansville projects fit into a turnaround strategy Burger King has pursued since late 2022, one focused on revamping marketing, improving food quality and renovating restaurants, as reported by CNBC. The company expects to complete about 2,000 remodels by 2028, with more than 85% of its U.S. restaurants reflecting the new Sizzle image, according to USA Today. Burger King expects 300 to 350 of its roughly 7,000 U.S. restaurants to undergo remodels in a given year, per Restaurant Business Online.
The investment appears to be paying off at the register. CEO Joshua Kobza has said sales at remodeled locations increase in the mid-teens, USA Today reported. Among 893 remodeled traditional Burger King locations analyzed in the company's remodel sample, the average sales uplift was 11.4%, according to QSR magazine. For now, Hornell diners have their updated location back, and Dansville customers have a late-October target to circle on the calendar.
