Chicken Salad Chick opens first NY location in Clifton Park

Chicken Salad Chick, a Southern fast-casual chain built around scoops of chicken salad, opened its first New York restaurant on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 5 Southside Drive in Clifton Park. The first 100 people in line won free chicken salad for a year, WNYT reported, and the company has said Clifton Park is the first of 25 restaurants it plans across the state.

The restaurant is in The Shops at Village Plaza, just north of Clifton Park Center near the west end of Clifton Country Road, according to the Times Union. Chicken Salad Chick is open every day of the week.

Chicken Salad Chick Clifton Park at a glance

Here are the practical details, from the chain’s location page and the Daily Gazette.

• Address: Chicken Salad Chick, 5 Southside Drive, Clifton Park. Phone (518) 280-4296.
• Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.
• Ordering: dine-in, pickup and delivery, plus a catering menu that the chain pitches for office lunches and family gatherings.
• Rewards: the chain’s Chick Rewards program gives one point per dollar spent toward discounts and free items.

What is on the menu

The chain serves 12 flavors of chicken salad, each named after a woman in co-founder Stacy Brown’s life, the Times Union reported. Customers order a flavor as a scoop with a side or a cup of soup, or on a sandwich, according to the Gazette. NEWS10 listed classic, buffalo, cranberry and lemon basil among the options.

The rest of the menu is built to go with the chicken salad. The main categories, according to NEWS10 and the Gazette, are these.

• Pimento cheese, which can be ordered as a scoop in place of chicken salad.
• Sides including broccoli salad, grape salad, pasta salad and fresh fruit.
• Soups and macaroni and cheese.
• Desserts.

Opening week and a local cause

The opening-week promotions ran all week. WNYT reported daily giveaways through Saturday, Sept. 26, and the company’s announcement laid out a different one for each day.

• Tuesday, Sept. 22: the first customer won a free large Quick Chick of chicken salad every week for a year, and the next 99 won one a month, according to the Gazette.
• Wednesday, Sept. 23: the first 50 guests spending $15 or more got a 40-ounce tumbler.
• Thursday, Sept. 24: the first 50 guests buying two large Quick Chicks got a large cooler.
• Friday, Sept. 25: the first 50 guests spending $15 or more got a tote bag.
• Saturday, Sept. 26: the first 50 guests spending $15 or more got a free large Quick Chick on their next visit.

Before the doors opened, the restaurant used its pre-opening events to raise money for Captain Community Human Services, the nonprofit that supports individuals, families and seniors in Saratoga County and the surrounding Capital Region, according to the company’s announcement. The chain’s charitable arm, the CSC Foundation, supports CURE Childhood Cancer and local food banks.

Jordyn Stone, a franchise marketing consultant for the chain, told WNYT that the opening had been a long time coming and that Clifton Park is a natural fit for the brand and the community.

A national chain’s New York entry

Stacy and Kevin Brown started Chicken Salad Chick in 2008 in Auburn, Alabama, the Times Union reported, and the company began franchising in 2012 in Alabama and Georgia, according to its website. The company, now based in Atlanta, runs more than 345 restaurants in 27 states, according to the Gazette, and its own website now puts the count at more than 350. New York was its fifth new state in 2026, after Utah, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

“Entering New York is a major milestone for Chicken Salad Chick,” chief executive Scott Deviney said in the company’s announcement. In April the chain signed a 25-restaurant franchise agreement, the largest in its history, to open in the Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Hudson Valley markets. The franchise group has not been named. The company’s announcement describes it only as a group with experience operating several restaurant brands in upstate New York. In the release, Deviney called the group seasoned in national restaurant operations and said its long-term commitment to the market made it an ideal partner, the Times Union reported. He also said the chain is already seeing strong demand in the state. A company spokesperson told the Times Union that more sites are being scouted but no other New York openings are expected until 2027.

A busy corner of Clifton Park

Southside Drive has become one of the town’s dining clusters. Druthers Brewing Company runs its largest brewpub at 12 Southside Drive, and Spice Malabar is at 7 Southside Drive. Inside Clifton Park Center, Gai Chicken & Rice opened a food court counter this month, which we covered in our September restaurant roundup.

For readers in Saratoga Springs, the restaurant is about 20 miles south of downtown by the Northway. Because the company does not expect another New York opening before 2027, Clifton Park will be the only Chicken Salad Chick in the state for the rest of this year. The company has not said where the next Capital Region location will go.

Our read: Clifton Park keeps drawing chains that are new to the region, and for a brand entering a new state, a first restaurant next to a regional mall off the Northway is a low-risk test. Whether the Albany market supports more of them is the question the 25-unit deal will answer over the next few years.

Chicken Salad Chick is now in our directory. Hours listed here come from the company’s location page as of Sept. 30 and may change.

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