Buy a Franchise
Franchise Opportunity Deep Dive: Chicken Salad Chick is a fast-casual restaurant franchise built on scratch-made chicken salad served in a suburban dine-in and carryout format.
Chicken Salad Chick is a fast-casual restaurant concept centered on made-from-scratch chicken salad, with more than a dozen varieties alongside sandwiches, fresh sides, soups and desserts. The brand pairs its Southern-inspired menu with an emphasis on hospitality and community involvement, guided by its purpose of spreading joy, enriching lives and serving others. Today, Chicken Salad Chick has more than 340 restaurants across 25 states.
Chicken Salad Chick was founded in Auburn, Alabama, in 2008 by Kevin and Stacy Brown. Stacy began making chicken salad in her home kitchen, drawing on a love of the dish and a recipe passed down from her grandmother, and started selling it locally. After the county health department required her to stop operating the home-based business, she and Kevin opened the first Chicken Salad Chick restaurant in Auburn. The concept grew around Stacy's chicken salad recipes and her desire to create a welcoming place where food could bring people together, with individual chicken salad flavors named for women who had influenced her life. Four years after the first restaurant opened, Chicken Salad Chick began franchising in Alabama and Georgia in 2012.
Mission: Chicken Salad Chick’s mission is to spread joy, enrich lives and serve others through made-from-scratch food, Southern hospitality and meaningful connections with the communities it serves.
Vision: Chicken Salad Chick’s vision is to become “America’s Favorite Place for Chicken Salad” while continuing to bring people together through its food and hospitality.
Chicken Salad Chick currently has open markets in Akron, Cleveland, Toledo, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Madison, Miami, Chicago, Des Moines, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Minneapolis, along with West Virginia and Nebraska.
Visit the Chicken Salad Chick franchise website for more information on franchising opportunities.
Initial Costs: The estimated initial investment ranges from $777,000 to $998,500 for a non-drive-thru restaurant and $802,000 to $1,033,500 for a drive-thru restaurant. The 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) breaks these costs down as follows:
| Type of Expenditure | Min | Max |
| Initial Franchise Fee | $50,000 | $50,000 |
| Grand Opening Marketing Fee | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Rent (1 Month) & Security Deposit | $6,000 | $15,000 |
| Leasehold Improvements | $425,000 | $525,000 |
| Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment | $175,000 | $225,000 |
| Décor Package | $15,000 | $20,000 |
| Branded Merchandise | $9,000 | $10,000 |
| Inventory | $12,000 | $13,000 |
| Signage | $12,000 | $25,000 |
| Drive-Thru Package (Drive-Thru Only) | $25,000 | $35,000 |
| Technology Equipment & Software | $25,000 | $35,000 |
| Permits & Licenses | $500 | $2,500 |
| Insurance (6 Months) | $2,500 | $3,500 |
| Training Travel & Lodging | $5,000 | $9,000 |
| Other Deposits & Prepaid Expenses | $0 | $5,500 |
| Professional Fees | $10,000 | $20,000 |
| Additional Funds (3 Months) | $20,000 | $30,000 |
Initial Franchise Fee: The initial franchise fee for the first Chicken Salad Chick restaurant is $50,000, plus a $10,000 grand opening marketing fee, which is due when the franchise agreement is signed.
For an area development agreement, the fee is $50,000 for the first restaurant and an additional $20,000 for each additional restaurant to be developed. That $20,000 is applied toward the $45,000 initial franchise fee due for the second and subsequent restaurants developed.
Ongoing Fees: According to the 2026 FDD, franchisees are responsible for the following recurring payments:
| Type of Fee | Amount |
| Continuing Royalty | Greater of $600 or 5% of gross sales/twice per month |
| Advertising Contribution | 2% of gross sales/twice per month |
ROI Potential: According to the 2026 FDD, the 214 franchises and 69 affiliate-owned restaurants operating for the entirety of 2025 reported the following annual gross sales:
| Restaurant Type | Average | Median | High | Low |
| Franchise (214) | $1,496,540 | $1,500,394 | $2,742,662 | $610,842 |
| Affiliate-Owned (69) | $1,506,433 | $1,478,631 | $2,479,604 | $810,711 |
The franchisor accepts the site and lease, designates the protected area, supplies build-out drawings and specifications, provides approved supplier lists and equipment schedules and arranges an opening team for up to 10 days. Franchisees who already own two or more restaurants do not receive the opening team. Site selection itself is the franchisee's responsibility, and a franchisee without a site at signing has 120 days to submit one the franchisor accepts.
Initial training runs a minimum of two weeks at the Atlanta home office or designated restaurants and covers 101 total hours across classroom and on-the-job instruction. The program is offered at no additional cost, though franchisees cover travel, lodging and payroll for attendees. The franchisee or operating partner, along with two key employees, must complete the program. Training is led by Patti Evanosky, senior director of training, and James Thompson, chief operating officer. Assistant manager and general manager development programs follow through at Chicken Salad Chick University.
Ongoing support runs through advisory services by phone and email, manual and menu updates, newly approved supplier information and required attendance at brand conferences. Brand fund dollars are administered by an affiliate that manages national advertising.
The technology line item covers point-of-sale and back-office systems, PCI store network, security cameras and audio. The franchisor sets standards for the hardware and software franchisees must use and reserves the right to charge up to $500 per month for proprietary software and support it does not currently provide.
Liquid Assets: $250,000
Net Worth: $750,000
Chicken Salad Chick does not require previous restaurant experience, although it considers it an advantage. The brand looks for growth-minded franchisees with strong leadership and team management skills, business or operations experience and a commitment to community involvement. Chicken Salad Chick welcomes single-unit owners while also seeking experienced multi-unit operators and business owners who have the capacity to grow with the brand.
Chicken Salad Chick does not offer direct or indirect financing to franchisees.
Expected to grow in value by more than $200 billion by 2032, the worldwide fast-casual marketplace is primed for significant growth (with the American market alone expected to eclipse $84 billion in the next four years). Such growth is driven in the United States by the millennial embrace of concepts like quality and health, as well as sustainability, convenience and customization. The consumption of chicken in particular remains steady in America, with the U.S. responsible for the sale of more than 5 billion chicken servings annually. The fast-casual chicken sector in America presents significant opportunities for growth and investment, driven by increasing demand for quality and convenience.
Chicken Salad Chick’s primary competitors include Panera Bread, Jason's Deli, McAlister's Deli, Newk's Eatery and Zoup!, along with regional chicken salad and deli concepts.
The brand differentiates itself in the fast-casual segment with a menu centered on chicken salad, along with an emphasis on food quality and prompt service.
After signing the franchise agreement, restaurants generally open within 8 to 12 months and must open within 13 months. Applications start at the Chicken Salad Chick franchise site.
Want to learn more about franchise opportunities on 1851 Franchise? Be sure to visit our Power Rankings to read more on brands making moves.
Want to learn more about how 1851 helps franchisees find the right franchise opportunity? Visit www.1851growthclub.com and start your journey.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational use only. You should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice. Nothing contained on this site constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement or offer to buy or sell any franchises, securities or other financial instruments in this or in any other jurisdiction in which such solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the franchise and/or securities laws of such jurisdiction.
All content in this article is information of a general nature and does not address the detailed circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Nothing in the article constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information in the article constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto. You alone assume the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information or other content in this article before making any decisions based on such information or other content.
Sign up for the 1851 Franchise newsletter to get our biggest stories before everyone else
By signing up, you agree to our user agreement (including class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and acknowledge our privacy policy.
