TL;DR
Chicken Salad Chick has expanded to 27 states with over 350 restaurants and has awarded more than 100 franchise units in 2026. The chain has opened its first restaurants in Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, and West Virginia, with much of the growth coming from the Northeast.
Chicken Salad Chick has passed 350 restaurants in 27 states and awarded more than 100 franchise units so far in 2026, putting the brand on pace for a record year after record growth in 2025, the company said in a company press release.
The chain opened its first restaurants this year in Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah and West Virginia. Pennsylvania locations open or in development include Allentown, Collegeville and South Pittsburgh, while West Virginia sites include Barboursville and South Charleston.
Much of the growth is coming from the Northeast. This year, the brand signed a 25-unit development agreement for upstate New York, the largest in company history. The deal will bring Chicken Salad Chick to Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and the Upper Hudson Valley.
The company said the growth is being driven by experienced multi-unit operators as the brand moves beyond its Southeastern roots into the Midwest, Mountain West and Northeast. It has nearly 350 more locations in its development pipeline.
"Surpassing 350 restaurants is a proud milestone, but what excites us most is who is helping us get there," Mark Verges, vice president of franchise development at Chicken Salad Chick, said in the release.
In this story
This story was originally published in FastCasual on October 29, 2026. Burnaze summarizes and links to the original reporting.
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