Claudia Sanders Dinner House
Restaurant opened by Colonel Sanders
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Claudia Sanders Dinner House (formerly Claudia Sanders, The Colonel's Lady Dinner House) is a restaurant in Shelbyville, Kentucky, United States, opened by KFC founder Colonel Sanders and his wife, Claudia, in 1968.[1][2] Colonel Sanders opened the restaurant after he had grown unhappy with recipe changes at KFC after selling the company. The restaurant was subject to a lawsuit by the owners of KFC as it was promoted by Sanders, who was also the face of KFC.
| Claudia Sanders Dinner House | |
|---|---|
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 Interactive map of Claudia Sanders Dinner House | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1968 |
| Previous owner(s) | Colonel Sanders, Claudia Sanders |
| Location | Shelbyville, Kentucky |
| Website | claudiasandersshelbyville |
History
The Dinner House is next to the house which the Sanders family lived in between 1959 and 1984, and became the first headquarters of Kentucky Fried Chicken.[1][3]
In 1964, Sanders sold Kentucky Fried Chicken,[2] and he later grew unhappy with the recipes that the franchise was using.[4] In 1968, Colonel Sanders and his wife, Claudia, started the restaurant, originally named "Claudia Sanders, The Colonel's Lady Dinner House".[1][4][3][5] After Kentucky Fried Chicken was bought by Heublein in 1971, Heublein was unhappy that Sanders was using his image for the competing restaurant (Sanders was a large face of Kentucky Fried Chicken). Heublein sued Sanders for this, and Sanders countersued the company for $122 million in 1974, claiming that Heublein was unlawfully using the Sanders face for products that he did not develop. Heublein settled out of court with a $1 million payment to Sanders,[4][6] and the restaurant changed its name to Claudia Sanders Dinner House.[4] After Colonel Sanders died in 1980, Claudia Sanders sold the restaurant.[1]
In 1999, the restaurant burned down in four hours. It was later rebuilt.[2] The restaurant was listed for sale in 2022 with an initial asking price of $9 million, which was reduced to $4.9 million the following year.[1]
Operations
Claudia Sanders Dinner House serves over 100,000 customers per year.[1]