Both Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken restaurants in Richmond, Indiana are getting a top-to-bottom refresh, and customers should expect dining rooms to go dark temporarily while drive-thrus keep serving fried chicken through the construction. Work already started last month at one location, with the second set to follow.
Weston Lee, LLC, the franchise group led by Jack Omer, is investing in both Richmond restaurants as part of a broader remodeling push, according to EIN Presswire. Work began Monday, October 19, at the Richmond East restaurant at 1801 E. Main St., while the Richmond West location at 2410 W. National Road was scheduled to begin its remodel on November 9. During construction, the dining rooms will be temporarily closed, but the drive-thrus will remain open, per the announcement.
The planned improvements include refreshed colors, updated furniture and fixtures, new digital menu boards, and significant updates to the buildings' interiors and exteriors, the release states. Jack Omer, who is franchisee and president of Weston Lee, LLC and grandson of co-founder Harold Omer, said the remodel symbolizes new life for the brand and will make the restaurants' appearance match the quality of the food inside, according to the same announcement.
A Family Name Behind the Brand
Omer's connection to Lee's runs through the company's founding generation, a detail confirmed by QSR Magazine, which identifies him as franchisee and president of Weston Lee, LLC, and grandson of co-founder Harold Omer. Brad Lucas, franchisee and chief operating officer of Weston Lee, said the company sees the Richmond work as more than cosmetic. Weston Lee intends to continue remodeling across its portfolio and views the projects as investments in the communities its restaurants serve, Lucas said, adding that the goal is ensuring the restaurants are ready to serve guests for years to come, per the release.
The Richmond projects aren't isolated. Weston Lee plans to refresh its wider Indiana portfolio, which includes locations in Muncie, Connersville, and New Castle, the announcement notes. A Muncie Lee's remodel was described as the first of several planned restaurant remodels across Weston Lee's portfolio, with additional projects in Richmond, Connersville, and New Castle slated to begin later this year, according to the Beacon Journal. As in Richmond, the Muncie restaurant's dining room was expected to close temporarily while its drive-thru remained open during that work.
Part of a Brandwide Reset
The Richmond updates fall under Lee's “Reframing the Fame” initiative, a brandwide effort to modernize the restaurant experience while staying true to the food and heritage, the same QSR Magazine report states. That modernization push has already reshaped how the chain presents itself nationally. Lee's introduced a refreshed logo, updated packaging, new uniforms, redesigned digital channels, and a new chicken icon named Helen, according to a separate QSR Magazine report, which also describes a flexible restaurant design system featuring a brighter, more modern exterior, expanded windows, and updated dining spaces for existing and future locations.
Elsewhere in the state, the family's growth has moved beyond remodeling existing buildings. Jack Omer and a partner acquired five Lee's restaurants in Indiana, and all five are being remodeled to modernize to current brand standards with a new logo, signage, brighter color schemes and an artificial intelligence-powered drive-thru digital ordering system, according to Franchise Times.
The remodels arrive as Lee's marks its 60th anniversary in 2026, according to the EIN Presswire announcement. Figures on the chain's current footprint vary by source: the Richmond announcement states there are 130 Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken restaurants and counting across the U.S., while Franchise Times describes the brand as having more than 130 locations in Canada and in about a dozen states, primarily in the Midwest. Neither figure is reconciled in the available reporting.
