The Deal
Chicken Salad Chick, the Atlanta-based fast casual chain specializing exclusively in chicken salad, will open its first New York restaurant on September 22 in Clifton Park, backed by what the company describes as its largest franchise development agreement to date — a 25-unit deal covering Upstate New York.
The agreement extends the brand's footprint to 27 states and marks its fifth new state entry in 2026, following debuts in Utah, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The franchisee is a multi-unit operator already running several national restaurant brands across the Upstate New York market, though the company did not disclose the group's name or financial terms of the deal.
New York Expansion
The Clifton Park location, situated at The Shops at Village Plaza at 5 Southside Drive, will serve as the flagship for a pipeline of units slated for the Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Upper Hudson Valley corridors. The chain currently operates more than 345 restaurants nationwide, and New York represents a materially different competitive environment from its traditional Southern strongholds — a test of whether the brand's made-from-scratch positioning can translate into a higher-density, higher-cost market.
"Entering New York is a major milestone for Chicken Salad Chick," said Scott Deviney, CEO and President of Chicken Salad Chick. "This opening expands our footprint to 27 states and marks our fifth new state entry this year. We've partnered with a franchise group that's exceptionally seasoned in national restaurant operations, and their long-term commitment to this market makes them ideal partners."
The Clifton Park unit will offer dine-in, takeout, third-party delivery, and catering — the full service mix the brand deploys across its network. Menu staples include more than a dozen chicken salad varieties, fresh sides, gourmet soups, and desserts.
Franchise Growth Context
Five new state entries in a single calendar year is an aggressive pace for a concept that competes in the crowded fast casual sandwich and protein segment, alongside national players with far greater brand awareness in the Northeast. The 25-unit New York commitment, if executed in full, would represent roughly a 7% expansion of the chain's current total unit count — a significant bet on a single regional franchise group.
For the broader fast casual sector, the deal reflects continued franchisee appetite for differentiated concepts with limited direct competition. Chicken Salad Chick occupies a narrow but defensible niche: no other national fast casual chain focuses exclusively on chicken salad, a positioning the company has used consistently to attract multi-unit operators looking for white-space opportunities. Operators and investors tracking fast casual franchise expansion and foodservice real estate will note that the brand is deliberately sequencing market entries through experienced regional operators rather than a scattered single-unit approach.
The grand opening will include a five-day promotional window running September 22–26, with the first 100 guests on opening day eligible for free chicken salad allotments ranging from weekly to monthly for one year. The Clifton Park restaurant will operate Monday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
