Chicken salad restaurant chain roosting in Indy area with three locations

Chicken Salad Chick restaurants are located in 17 states. (Image courtesy of Chicken Salad Chick)

Chicken Salad Chick, a rapidly expanding chain of fast-casual restaurants, is entering the central Indiana market with three stores—two in Indianapolis and one in Fishers.

The Auburn, Alabama-based company is working to open locations at Glendale Town Center, 6159 N. Keystone Ave.; 3450 W. 86^th St.; and at 11545 Ikea Way in Fishers.

The Glendale spot was formerly occupied by the fast-casual Asian restaurant Pei Wei, which closed in 2019. The 86^th Street location is part of the Pyramid Place shopping center just east of Michigan Road, in a space formerly occupied by Noodles and Co. The Ikea Way store is part of the Fishers District development.

“We are super-excited to be opening in this great city,” Chicken Salad Chick District Manager Marc Burnikel told IBJ via email.

Burnikel referred specific questions about opening dates to the company’s public relations firm, which had not responded as of deadline Monday afternoon.

A Facebook page for Chicken Salad Chick’s 86^th Street site says that location is hoping to be open by the end of next month.

Chicken Salad Chick’s menu includes a dozen varieties of chicken salad ranging from the “Classic Carol” (chicken, celery, mayonnaise and seasonings) to the “Sassy Scotty” (chicken, ranch, bacon and cheddar). Other menu items include pimiento cheese, egg salad, soups, sandwiches, salads and sides.

Stacy and Kevin Brown founded Chicken Salad Chick in 2008. They sold a majority ownership stake in the company to Atlanta-based Eagle Merchants Partners in 2015. At that time, Chicken Salad Chick operated 32 locations in six Southeastern states.

Today, the company has 181 franchised and company-owned locations in 17 states, mostly in the South and Midwest. The company opened its first Indiana location, in Jeffersonville, in June.