Chicken Salad Chick has surpassed 350 open restaurants across 27 states, giving the fast-casual chain a store base that is now roughly the same size as its reported development pipeline.
The company said October 29 that it has almost 350 locations in development and has awarded more than 100 franchise units so far in 2026. Those are three different measures: restaurants operating today, units under development and franchise units awarded this year. They should not be added together or treated as a timetable for openings.
That distinction is the most useful part of the announcement for restaurant operators and investors. A pipeline nearly as large as the open system signals substantial growth capacity, but it also creates a long execution list: real estate, permits, construction, financing, training and franchisee readiness all sit between an award and an opening. Chicken Salad Chick did not provide a completion schedule for the pipeline, a 2026 opening count, or expected attrition from signed development commitments.
The chain did disclose where some of the expansion is landing. It opened its first restaurants in five states during 2026: Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah and West Virginia. That moves the Auburn, Alabama-founded concept farther beyond its Southeastern base into the Midwest, Mountain West and Northeast.
The Northeast is the clearest example of the strategy. Chicken Salad Chick said its largest development agreement to date is a 25-unit deal for upstate New York, covering Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and the Upper Hudson Valley. The agreement was first announced in May. The October update also identified open or developing restaurants in Allentown, Collegeville and South Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in Barboursville and South Charleston, West Virginia.
There is still white space in the region. The company said it is seeking franchise partners in New Jersey, New York and central Pennsylvania. That means the 25-unit New York agreement does not close out every Northeast territory the franchisor is marketing.
For operators benchmarking the growth claim, the clean baseline is more than 350 open restaurants in 27 states. The forward-looking figure is almost 350 locations in the development pipeline. The deal-flow figure is more than 100 units awarded during 2026. The company did not break out how many of the nearly 350 pipeline units are included in this year's awards, nor did it disclose opening dates, capital requirements, average unit volumes or franchisee-level economics in the milestone release.
The result is a credible expansion signal with an important caveat. Chicken Salad Chick has demonstrated geographic entry into five new states and has a record-sized development agreement behind part of the Northeast push. But the next operating proof point will be how quickly the nearly one-for-one pipeline converts into open restaurants without stretching site selection and support systems.
For now, the 350-store milestone says the brand has reached national scale. The nearly 350-unit pipeline says the company is attempting to build a second system of roughly the same size behind it.
