fowling our nest

Popular chicken salad chain flocks to San Antonio with 8 locations

Chicken Salad Chick's menu offerings are made from scratch daily.

There’s a new chick wattling into town, San Antonio, in the form of scratch-made, Southern-style sandwiches.

Chicken Salad Chick, a concept that was started by an Alabama mom and quickly turned into a much-loved eatery with its launch in 2008, has signed a deal to hatch eight locations in the San Antonio market in the next few years, according to the company.

The eight local Chicken Salad Chick locations will span Bexar, Kendall, Comal, and Hayes counties.

The local expansion, part of a much bigger growth plan for the biz, is led by franchise company Oberon LLC, which was formed by San Antonio natives and restaurant vets James Oberg (owner of Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, which has location across Texas); George Shaw (a partner in Freddy’s); and Jeff Rochelle.

Chicken Salad Chick currently operates 200 restaurants in 17 states, including several in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston areas, and one in Waco, though the incoming eight units will mark the chain’s entrance into the San Antonio market. The local franchisees expect the local growth will add 250 jobs in the Greater San Antonio area.

“Chicken Salad Chick is an established brand that offers a unique concept and delivers quality, scratch-made, and fresh menu items,” an Oberon release notes. “The menu offerings and ease of operations allow for us to tap into a new restaurant concept while also being a part of the massive growth plans that the brand has for expanding further West. Chicken Salad Chick was a natural progression for us because we get to be on the ground floor of a fast-growing brand while benefiting from its established history in the state.”

Chicken Salad Chick’s growth plan includes reaching the 500-location mark by the end of 2025, with the company noting it’s looking to expand its franchise locations across the Lone Star State, targeting such markets as Lubbock, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Midland, San Angelo, Tyler, Laredo, Corpus Christi, Beaumont, McAllen, and Longview.

The franchise partners are currently in the site-selection phase of development in the San Antonio area.

The eatery serves an array of chicken salad scoops and sandwiches, from traditional Southern style to spicy and fruity versions, as well as pimento cheese and egg salad scoops and sandwiches, soups, green salads, and sides.

“It’s exciting to see the success that Chicken Salad Chick has achieved in Texas so far,” says Scott Devaney, CEO of Chicken Salad Chick, in a release. “The Oberon group is a great addition to our brand and they have already hit the ground running as they work towards securing their first location. As we continue to penetrate markets across Texas, with wonderful franchise owners like this group, we look forward to building a loyal fan base in every community and march on with our vision to become America’s favorite place for chicken salad.”

openings lunch

Green Light

Healthy-casual Dallas restaurant makes San Antonio debut on Broadway

Bellagreen/Instagram

Bellagreen is now in San Antonio for the first time.

A fast-casual restaurant from Dallas called Bellagreen has sprouted in San Antonio, as of Tuesday, November 12.

The mini-chain's first San Antonio location is at 1900 Broadway St., Ste. 112, and it's giving out a couple of freebies to get things going on opening day. Customers on Tuesday will all get a free craft soda or tea with their meal. Active military and veterans will also receive 15 percent off, but that's a daily policy throughout the year.

Bellagreen is known for its healthy image, which comes from scratch-made dishes and a generally light menu featuring lots of salads, a strong veggie presence, and a protein lean toward poultry and fish. Rotating seasonal menus keep things fresh.

“The decision to open Bella here was easy," said San Antonio location co-investors Sameer Mumtaz and Mark Huffstutler in a press release. Mumtaz continued, "San Antonio shares our values of family and good, wholesome, quality food.”

With nine locations across Texas, much of its popularity also comes from an ease of catering to different diets and preferences, from brunch (with $10 mimosa carafes) through dinner. Many meals are customizable and can accommodate gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, high-protein, and other needs.

“We’ve wanted to bring Bellagreen to Central Texas for years and finally found the perfect spot," said Huffstutler. "Downtown residents, employees and tourists have a wonderful new dining option, and we can immerse ourselves in San Antonio’s vibrant culture.”

The roughly 150-seat restaurant with a patio is located in a popular area for dining, a few blocks from the Pearl neighborhood and next to Nineteen Hyaku (for a very different kind of meal).

"We believe in living a balanced life, and our menu reflects that with delicious and abundant options,” said general Cristian Garcia in the release. “With made-for-you dishes, quick and friendly service and charitable ties, our guests can feel good about their dining choice.”

While the fall menu is in service, those charitable ties lead to Bexar Branches Alliance, an urban forestry nonprofit that will receive a portion of profits from those seasonal items. So far, according to the release, Bellagreen has donated more than 45,000 seedlings to the Texas Trees Foundation and Trees for Houston, the city where most of its locations are, even though it's based in Dallas.

Bellagreen is open weekdays from 11 am to 10 pm, and weekends from 10 am to 10 pm.