Chicken Salad Chick(https://chickensaladchick.com/) enters Sarasota County for the first time on September 29 with a new unit at 6650 Fruitville Road inside the Fruitville Farms shopping center, just east of I-75. The opening extends the brand's footprint in Southwest Florida and marks a third location for franchisee Karen Jordan, who operates under the Manasota Chick, LLC group alongside existing units in Bradenton and Parrish — the latter of which opened as recently as December 2025.
Franchise Growth in Focus
Jordan's rapid three-unit build-out illustrates a broader pattern in fast casual franchising: committed multi-unit operators accelerating growth in high-population Sun Belt markets. Beyond her restaurant count, Jordan is deeply embedded in the regional business community, sitting on the Manatee Chamber of Commerce board and holding memberships in the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and Parrish Area Business Alliance. That kind of civic engagement often translates directly into catering pipeline and corporate account development — a revenue channel that fast casual operators are increasingly leaning on to offset dine-in volatility.
Scott Deviney, CEO and President of Chicken Salad Chick, pointed to Jordan's community orientation as central to the brand's Southwest Florida strategy. "Karen is an amazing franchise owner and her passion for serving others has been vital for our growth in Southwest Florida," Deviney said. "Community involvement and charitable giving are core to Chicken Salad Chick, and we're honored to support the V Foundation and its mission to advance life-saving cancer research."
Opening Week Promotions
The grand opening is structured to drive immediate trial and app adoption. On September 29, the first guest in line at 10:30 a.m. wins a free large Quick Chick of chicken salad weekly for a year; the next 99 guests earn a free large Quick Chick monthly for a year — both delivered through the brand's mobile app, requiring an in-store purchase to activate. The promotional mechanic is a deliberate loyalty play, linking grand opening traffic to digital enrollment.
Subsequent grand opening week days layer in merchandise giveaways — a Tervis Tumbler, grocery tote, branded cooler, and a product reward — each tied to a meal purchase with two sides, keeping average check intact while rewarding early visitors. The restaurant operates Monday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and offers dine-in, patio seating, takeout, third-party delivery, and catering.
Charitable Tie-In
The Friends & Family preview event features legendary sports broadcaster Dick Vitale, a prominent advocate for pediatric cancer research. Vitale will attend the ribbon cutting on behalf of the V Foundation for Cancer Research — the nonprofit co-founded by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano — with funds raised during the event and book sales directed to the organization. The tie-in reinforces a community-first brand identity that Chicken Salad Chick has used consistently in franchise expansion markets to build goodwill ahead of opening day.
Nationwide, Chicken Salad Chick now operates more than 345 restaurants across 27 states, positioning it as one of the few fast casual concepts built entirely around a single protein category. The Sarasota opening adds to a Florida presence that has become one of the brand's most active development corridors.
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.
