Chicken-salad restaurant coming to north Fort Worth

North Fort Worth and Keller are so crowded with chicken joints that K Magazine, the Star-Telegram’s Keller-centric magazine, did a cover story last year about all the chicken. North Tarrant Parkway alone is home to a Pollo Tropical, a Raising Cane’s, a Golden Chick and a Slim Chickens — all within a short drive (in some cases walk) of one another.

Nearby Alliance Town Center is home to a Pluckers Wing Bar. It’s also home to a Chick-Fil-A — and another one is reportedly planned for Presidio Towne Crossing, just across I-35W.

Now an Alabama-based chain is ready to toss some salad into the mix. Chicken salad, that is.

Chicken Salad Chick, which calls itself “the nation’s only southern-inspired, fast-casual chicken salad restaurant concept,” announced this week that it will open its first Texas location in the Presidio Towne Crossing shipping center, which is between North Tarrant Parkway and Heritage Trace Parkway off southbound I-35W.

The shopping center and adjacent Presidio Junction have been crazy with restaurant openings lately, with recent debuts by Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom and grilled-cheeese/tomato-soup spot Tom+Chee. A La Madeleine is scheduled to open March 17.

But hey, are any of those a chicken salad restaurant? Although an online menu isn’t available yet for the Fort Worth location, one sample menu we looked at featured more than a dozen variations on chicken salad, all of which have clever names: There’s the Classic Carol, the Olivia’s Old South (with sweet pickles and egg), and the Cranberry Kelli along with more out-there variations such as the Luau Lydia (with pineapple and macadamia nuts), the Barbie-Q (hickory smoked), the Kickin’ Kay Lynne (buffalo sauce, ranch, bacon, shredded cheddar cheese and jalapeños) and more.

We were particularly amused by the description of the Dixie Chick: “Our ‘most offensive salad,’ definitely for the onion lover.” Salads on this menu were $9.79 a pound. If chicken salad isn’t your thing, there’s also a short menu of deli sandwiches and even some non-chicken salads.

The franchisees are John and Meggie Schissler, husband and wife who plan to open two additional locations in the Fort Worth area. Their story, from the release: Meggie is from Texas, but discovered Chicken Salad Chick (which has a gaggle of locations in the southeast U.S.) in 2009 when she met students at the restaurant as part of a ministry outreach. She liked it so much, she went to work in the corporate office. She introduced John to the restaurant in 2010. When Chicken Salad Chick decided to start making a southwest push — or a west push, at any rate — the Schisslers were on board for the first Texas stores.

The store will be at 8825 Tehama Ridge Parkway No. 329. Look for a May opening, with the usual caveat that target dates can be hard to hit. For updates, follow Chicken Salad Chick on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 4:41 PM with the headline "Chicken-salad restaurant coming to north Fort Worth."