KFC Once Tried to Be More Than a Fried Chicken Chain

Did you know that, for a brief moment in its history, KFC could have replaced that "FC" with "RB 'n' H"? That's because, fun fact, the iconic chicken chain once experimented with roast beef and ham.

Kentucky Roast Beef 'n' Ham

By 1967, according to retroist.com, Kentucky Fried Chicken (as it was called at the time) had become so popular that it was one of the country's ten largest restaurant chains. In fact, it was popular enough that the brand decided to try its hand at roast beef and ham.

The new chain was called Kentucky Roast Beef 'n' Ham and even used Colonel Sanders' trademark 11 herbs and spices in preparing the meat, although I can't help but wonder how seasonings earmarked for chicken would work with beef and ham.

The Brief History of Kentucky Roast Beef 'n' Ham

The first of these establishments went up in Las Vegas and was actually a hit. But several factors doomed the concept. KFC lacked the same passion for roast beef that fueled its chicken business, producing fresh roast beef sandwiches quickly proved more difficult than expected, and the beef and ham simply cost more.

By 1970, all Kentucky Roast Beef 'n' Ham locations were closed, even though the sandwiches themselves stayed on the KFC menus into the late 1970s. (We used to eat at KFC all the time when I was a kid, and I do not remember those sandwiches.)

KFC Ribs

KFC's late 1960s flirtation with other meats besides chicken also included Kentucky Fish and Kentucky Ribs, but they never made it past the testing phase. In the 1970s, however, ribs did make their debut on the KFC menu, and they were amazing. I wish they'd make a return. KFC ribs were discontinued in the early 1980s.

KFC has a long history of discontinued items, like most fast food giants. But most of them have been chicken sandwich varieties. KFC hasn't featured a non-chicken entree since it did away with country fried steak in 1988.