'Kitchen' owners have ties to St. Mary Parish

Jared Johnson, Corey McCoy, Trejan Vinson and Avery Bell are the owners of both Kitchen on Klinton locations in Lafayette.
The Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity brothers started cooking wings out of a house on Clinton Street in Lafayette in 2016; and in June opened a second location in Acadiana Mall.
According to Bell, a third KOK location will be opening here in Franklin in a month or so, at 212 Sterling Road.
Considering the pace of the restauranteurs’ success—it’s safe to say that the guys from KOK are clearly doing something right.
The chain was recently nominated by The Daily Advertiser for Best Restaurant and Best Fried Chicken in Acadiana.
Bell said the key to their recipe is “putting tender love and care into it.”
As far as the progression from Clinton Street to their third restaurant in only a year, he said that in 2017 the guys certified their food truck version of KOK, which they worked out of for nine months. Then, in August of last year, they opened their first brick and mortar restaurant at 405 East University Avenue. From there, it was on to Acadiana Mall, and now, to Franklin, the city Bell used to call home, and where McCoy’s family lives, as well.
Bell said that when KOK was just starting out, it was the patronage from Franklinites, friends and family which helped keep them afloat, “So, that’s why we are coming home,” he added.
In reference to sharing the helm of the restaurant chain with his three friends, Bell said, “We have a good work ethic and we are not representatives of our egos. For us, it’s not about that. Business is business and friendship is friendship, and those are two different things. We have learned how to separate them.
“Partnerships that fail are the ones that don’t let their friendships be friendships and their partnerships, partnerships.”
When it opens, the Franklin location of KOK will be for carry-out only, but the menu will be the same as that of their other locations.