The Opening
Chicken Salad Chick is adding a Morganton, North Carolina unit on August 19, bringing its systemwide footprint to more than 345 restaurants across 25 states. The fast-casual chicken salad concept — positioned as the only national chain dedicated to the category — is placing the new restaurant at 1016 Burkemont Avenue, operated by franchisees Allison Anderson and Sunny Murtaza, who already run a Hickory location opened in 2024.
The grand opening week features a four-day promotional cadence designed to drive trial and app downloads. The first 100 guests in line on opening day can win free chicken salad for a year — the first guest earns one large Quick Chick per week for 12 months, while guests two through 100 receive one per month. Subsequent days offer branded merchandise to the first 50 qualifying purchasers, a proven LTO-adjacent tactic fast-casual operators use to seed loyalty program enrollment and build early unit-level traffic.
Franchisee Profile
Anderson brings a background in public service and community engagement to the venture. She first encountered the brand at a Bristol location in 2021 and ultimately signed an area development agreement with her business partner. "Opening our second location has been incredibly meaningful to us," Anderson said. "Morganton has already shown us so much warmth, and we're excited to bring our fresh flavors and friendly atmosphere to the local community." Scott Deviney, president and CEO of Chicken Salad Chick, framed the Morganton opening as consistent with the chain's franchisee-led growth thesis, noting that Anderson and Murtaza had already "built something special" with their first unit in Hickory.
North Carolina Context
Chicken Salad Chick's North Carolina expansion reflects a broader fast-casual push into secondary and tertiary Southeast markets where real estate costs remain manageable relative to top-10 metros. The brand's asset-light franchise model — relying on a passionate network of owner-operators rather than company-owned units — has fueled its climb to 345-plus restaurants. For independent operators considering the category, the chicken salad segment occupies a differentiated niche within fast casual: a relatively low-complexity menu, strong catering revenue potential, and a daytime-focused daypart (the Morganton unit runs Monday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.) that avoids the late-night labor burden pressuring many QSR peers.
The Morganton unit offers dine-in, takeout, third-party delivery, and catering — a channel mix increasingly standard for fast-casual operators seeking to maximize AUV without significant off-premise infrastructure investment. Community giving is also built into the brand playbook: the CSC Foundation supports CURE Childhood Cancer and local food banks, and the Morganton pre-opening event raised funds for Casting for Hope, a North Carolina nonprofit serving women with gynecological cancers.
For operators tracking fast-casual unit growth in the Southeast, Chicken Salad Chick's trajectory is worth watching alongside emerging franchise development trends and fast-casual segment expansion activity across the region.
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.
