New York Entry
Chicken Salad Chick opens its first New York restaurant on September 22 in Clifton Park, pushing the Atlanta-based fast casual chain into its 27th state and marking its fifth new state entry in 2026, following Utah, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The Clifton Park unit sits at 5 Southside Drive in The Shops at Village Plaza and will offer dine-in, takeout, third-party delivery, and catering from day one.
The opening anchors what the company describes as its largest franchise development agreement to date — a 25-unit deal with an experienced multi-unit fast casual operator already running several national restaurant brands in the Upstate New York market. Planned locations extend across Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and the Upper Hudson Valley, giving the brand a broad regional footprint rather than a single-market test.
The Development Deal
"Entering New York is a major milestone for Chicken Salad Chick," said Scott Deviney, CEO and President of the company. "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 scale of the agreement reflects a broader franchising trend in fast casual: operators with proven multi-unit infrastructure are increasingly attractive development partners for emerging chains looking to plant flags in large, complex metro markets quickly. New York's Upstate corridor — dense with suburban retail corridors and a limited pool of regional fast casual competitors in the chicken salad niche — represents a relatively underpenetrated opportunity for a brand with more than 345 units nationally.
Grand Opening Week
To drive trial during the launch, the Clifton Park team has structured a five-day grand opening event running September 22–26. The first 100 guests in line on opening day will receive free chicken salad for a year — weekly for the lead guest, monthly for the next 99 — contingent on downloading the Chicken Salad Chick app and making a qualifying in-restaurant purchase. Subsequent days offer branded merchandise including a 40-ounce tumbler, a large cooler, and a tote bag to the first 50 qualifying guests each day.
The loyalty-app requirement built into the opening-day prize is a deliberate customer acquisition mechanic, seeding the brand's digital ecosystem in a market where it has no existing member base. For foodservice operators watching unit economics, that kind of structured trial — tying a high-visibility giveaway to app enrollment — has become standard practice for fast casual brands expanding into new regions.
The Clifton Park restaurant will operate Monday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The brand's menu centers on more than a dozen made-from-scratch chicken salad varieties alongside fresh sides, gourmet soups, signature sandwiches, and desserts — a format that travels well into c-store adjacent grab-and-go and catering channels, an area convenience retailers have increasingly targeted as they build out prepared-food programs. Community giving is also baked into the launch: pre-opening Friends & Family events will raise funds for CAPTAIN Community Human Services, a Saratoga County nonprofit.
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.
