Chicken Salad Chick
An American fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in chicken salad and Southern-style sides.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Chicken Salad Chick is an American fast-casual restaurant chain and franchise centered on chicken salad, complementary deli-style sandwiches, soups, salads, and Southern-inspired side dishes. The business began with Stacy Brown, who was unemployed, divorced, and raising three children when she started selling homemade chicken salad door to door in Auburn, Alabama. Local health regulations prevented her from continuing to sell food prepared in her home, prompting her and her future husband, Kevin Brown, to develop a restaurant-based business model. The concept is built around variety rather than a single signature recipe. Its menu includes fifteen styles of chicken salad, which customers can order on bread, as a scoop with crackers, or as part of a leafy green salad. Chicken salad is also sold by the pound for takeaway. The broader menu includes delicatessen-style sandwiches and sides such as pimento cheese, egg salad, broccoli salad, fruit salad, macaroni and cheese, pasta salad, and grape salad. Soup offerings include rotating or daily selections such as tomato bisque, broccoli and cheese, chicken and artichoke florentine, chicken tortilla, and loaded potato soup. Chicken Salad Chick operates primarily through franchised restaurants. The chain is based in Atlanta, Georgia, and the referenced profile describes a network of more than 300 franchise restaurants and stores across 22 U.S. states. This footprint positions the brand as a regional-to-national fast-casual operator built around a focused category, with menu breadth intended to support dine-in, takeaway, and catering-style purchasing occasions. The company has also developed a philanthropic platform. The Chicken Salad Chick Foundation was established in August 2014 and works with the American Cancer Society as well as food banks in communities served by the restaurant chain. Its charitable activity focuses on cancer support and addressing hunger. The reference material reports that the foundation donated more than $6,000 to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank in 2014 and that Chicken Salad Chick restaurants had collectively helped generate more than $100,000 for cancer- and hunger-related causes since the foundation’s creation. Chicken Salad Chick has attracted private-equity investment from Brentwood Associates, an investment firm that has also held interests in restaurant businesses including Blaze Pizza and Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar. The chain appeared at number 37 on the 2016 Inc. 5000 ranking of the fastest-growing companies in the United States. The available reference material does not establish a precise founding year, current executive roster beyond the foundation’s listed director, or an official corporate website, so those fields remain limited where documentation is unavailable.
History
Chicken Salad Chick originated in Auburn, Alabama, through Stacy Brown’s informal home-based chicken-salad business. At the time, Brown was unemployed, divorced, and supporting three children. She began taking her homemade product door to door, developing the basic customer proposition that would later become the restaurant chain: a focused menu built around chicken salad prepared in multiple styles. Health-department rules prevented Brown from continuing to sell food prepared in her home. Rather than abandon the concept, she and Kevin Brown, who later became her husband, devised a plan to establish a restaurant. The move converted a personal food-selling operation into a formal food-service business and created the foundation for the brand’s franchise model. The restaurant concept expanded around a broad selection of chicken salads rather than a single recipe. The chain’s menu came to include fifteen chicken-salad styles, served as sandwiches, scoops with crackers, or components of green salads. It also added pound-based takeaway sales, deli-style sandwiches, soups, and a range of sides associated with Southern and casual-dining food traditions. These offerings allowed the brand to serve both individual restaurant visits and take-home occasions. Chicken Salad Chick subsequently developed as a franchised fast-casual chain. The referenced Wikipedia profile describes the company as based in Atlanta, Georgia, with more than 300 franchise restaurants and stores in 22 U.S. states. The available material does not specify the dates of each expansion phase, the precise opening date of the first restaurant, or the complete sequence of franchise milestones. It does, however, document substantial growth by 2016, when the company ranked 37th on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing U.S. companies. Philanthropy became a formal part of the organization through the Chicken Salad Chick Foundation, established in August 2014. The foundation works with the American Cancer Society and food banks in communities where Chicken Salad Chick restaurants operate. Its stated focus combines cancer-related giving with hunger relief. A reported 2014 contribution to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank exceeded $6,000, while the reference profile states that the foundation and its restaurants had generated more than $100,000 in donations for cancer and hunger initiatives since the foundation’s inception. The brand has also received private-equity backing. Brentwood Associates is identified as a partial owner and is described as an investor in other restaurant companies, including Blaze Pizza and Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar. No public listing or stock ticker is identified in the available material. The chain remains presented as an active U.S. restaurant and franchise brand, although details about its current ownership structure, leadership, exact store count, and present-day operating markets require additional verification.
- 2016
Inc. 5000 recognition
[1]Chicken Salad Chick ranked 37th on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in the United States.
- 2014
Chicken Salad Chick Foundation established
[1]The company created its foundation in August 2014 to support cancer-related causes and hunger-relief efforts through partnerships with the American Cancer Society and community food banks.
- 2014
Donation to Chattanooga Area Food Bank
[1]The foundation was reported to have donated more than $6,000 to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank.
Products and positioning
A fast-casual, franchise-led restaurant brand specializing in multiple chicken-salad varieties and complementary Southern-style deli foods, with an emphasis on menu choice, takeaway convenience, and community philanthropy.
Chicken salad
Chicken salad varieties
The core menu comprises fifteen styles of chicken salad. Customers can order the preparations on bread as sandwiches, as scoops accompanied by crackers, or over leafy greens. The brand also sells chicken salad by the pound for takeaway, making the central product suitable for individual meals and larger take-home portions.
Sandwiches
Deli-style sandwiches
In addition to chicken-salad sandwiches, the chain offers deli-style sandwich formats that broaden the menu beyond its central product. These items complement the brand’s fast-casual service model and provide alternatives for customers seeking a bread-based meal.
Side dishes
Southern-style sides and salads
The side-dish range includes pimento cheese, egg salad, broccoli salad, fruit salad, macaroni and cheese, pasta salad, and grape salad. Together, these items reinforce the chain’s deli and Southern-casual positioning and can be paired with chicken salad or ordered separately.
Soups
Soup selection
Soup offerings include tomato bisque, broccoli and cheese, chicken and artichoke florentine, and chicken tortilla as daily or rotating specials. Loaded potato soup is identified as an everyday option in the available reference material.
Marketing campaigns
- 2014Chicken Salad Chick Foundation community giving
United States communities served by Chicken Salad Chick restaurants
The foundation organized charitable activity around two principal needs: cancer support and hunger relief. It partnered with the American Cancer Society and food banks serving communities where the restaurant chain operates.
Outcome. The foundation reported community donations including more than $6,000 to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank in 2014, with cumulative restaurant-related donations described as exceeding $100,000 for cancer and hunger causes since inception.
Recent events
Chicken Salad Chick announces Katy Cinco Ranch restaurant opening[2]
Reported:
Chicken Salad Chick announced that its Katy Cinco Ranch restaurant in Texas was planned to open on June 3, 2020, with limited capacity and social-distancing measures.
- Unconfirmed
Brentwood Associates acquires Chicken Salad Chick[3]
Reported:
Brentwood Associates acquired Chicken Salad Chick, a fast-casual restaurant chain, from Eagle Merchant Partners.
Sources3 sources
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