HANOVER TWP., Pa. – A new location of a rapidly growing, national restaurant chain is coming soon to a prominent shopping center in Lehigh County, and the husband-and-wife operators have plans to open additional locations throughout the Lehigh Valley.
The first Pennsylvania location of Chicken Salad Chick, serving full-flavored, Southern-style chicken salad made from scratch and served from the heart, is expected to open in mid- to late July at 942 Airport Center Road in Hanover Township, according to franchisee Amanda Greenford, who’s operating the new restaurant with her husband, Ernest Greenford.
A Chicken Salad Chick location is coming soon to the Airport Center in Hanover Township, Lehigh County.
Ryan Kneller
The soon-to-be-renovated space in the Airport Center previously housed a Buff City Soap location, which closed last year.
Amanda was born and raised in Alabama, where Chicken Salad Chick originated and locations are prevalent, and she and her family missed the brand’s food after moving to the Allentown area from the South a little more than three years ago.
“When I lived down there, I was obsessed with Chicken Salad Chick,” Amanda told 69 News.
“When my husband tried it, he loved it, and our kids also became obsessed with it. We went there probably two to three times a week. So, when we moved up here, we were suddenly like, ‘There’s no Chicken Salad Chick up here!’ And then we started thinking, ‘We could be the first people to bring it to this area.’”
Ernest and Amanda Greenford, franchisees of the forthcoming Chicken Salad Chick location in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, are pictured here with their children.
Courtesy Chicken Salad Chick Allentown
Amanda has many years of experience in the restaurant and hotel industry, and Ernest served in the Army for 22 years before launching a career as a commercial airline pilot.
The couple met in Alabama while Ernest was in flight school, and they moved to Pennsylvania a few years ago to be closer to Newark Liberty International Airport, where Ernest is based as a United Airlines pilot, Amanda said.
The Greenfords signed a deal to open three Chicken Salad Chick restaurants in the Lehigh Valley, and the Hanover Township eatery will be first of those locations, Amanda said.
Additional Lehigh Valley locations have not yet been nailed down, but the couple is targeting spots in Bethlehem and near Krocks Road in Lower Macungie Township for their next restaurants, both expected open within the next three years, Amanda said.
A Chicken Salad Chick location is coming soon to the Airport Center in Hanover Township, Lehigh County.
Ryan Kneller
“We’re so excited to bring this to the community,” Amanda said.
“I was born and raised in Alabama, and my husband is from New York. So, he was not familiar with Chicken Salad Chick at all until he came down South. Up here, when someone says chicken salad, you think of the typical chicken salad that you get in the grocery store, but this is nothing like that at all. That’s why we’re so excited to bring it to the community because we know how good the food is. Everything is made fresh daily from scratch, and nothing is fried. We steam the chicken on-site in an industrial steamer.”
Chicken Salad Chick was founded in 2008 by Stacy and Kevin Brown in Auburn, Alabama.
Kathryn McCrary
Today, the company has more than 330 restaurants in 22 states, and more Northeast locations are coming soon, with other franchisees planning to open additional Pennsylvania locations in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas as well as additional states such as New Jersey and New York, Amanda said.
“They’re spreading like crazy up here,” Amanda added.
Chicken Salad Chick restaurants offer more than a dozen varieties of chicken salad prepared daily, including “Classic Carol” (shredded chicken, minced celery, mayonnaise and secret seasoning), “Fruity Fran” (fresh mix of grapes, Fuji apples and pineapple), “Olivia’s Old South” (Southern classic with sweet pickles and egg) and “Barbie-Q” (hickory-smoked BBQ flavor).
Ernest’s favorite selection is “Jalapeno Holly,” packed with diced jalapenos to spice things up, while Amanda’s go-to pick is “Lauryn’s Lemon Basil,” featuring a vibrant bite of fresh basil, bright lemon pepper and crunch pecans, which she labels “refreshing and perfect for the summer.”
“You also can never go wrong with Sassy Scotty,” Amanda said of another popular variety, featuring ranch, bacon and cheddar.
A Chicken Salad Chick location is coming soon to the Airport Center in Hanover Township, Lehigh County.
Ryan Kneller
The unique flavors are nods to real people who have touched co-founder Stacy Brown’s life.
“Each named flavor is a tribute to these ‘real-life Chicks,’ and through our menu, we celebrate their stories, allowing our guests to connect with and enjoy them as much as we do,” reads a message on the business’ website. “At Chicken Salad Chick, it’s all about bringing people together, one scoop at a time.”
Chicken Salad Chick serves full-flavored, Southern-style chicken salad made from scratch with fresh ingredients every day.
Guests can enjoy a one-scoop meal (your favorite chicken salad or pimento cheese served as a scoop with crackers, along with a fresh side or cup of soup), two-scoop meal (choice of any two chicken salads or pimento cheese served as a scoop, along with fresh side or cup of soup) or sandwich meal (choice of any chicken salad or pimento cheese served on your choice of flaky croissant, traditional white bread or wheat bread, along with choice of fresh side, scoop or cup of soup).
Courtesy Chicken Salad Chick Allentown
There are also specialty meals, which include choice of one or two sides, a pickle and cookie, such as a bacon cheddar melt, chick melt meal, BLT meal and turkey club meal.
Other menu highlights include “Quick Chicks” (chicken salads packaged for pickup and delivery in shareable sizes); signature sides such as broccoli salad, grape salad, pasta salad and fresh fruit; gourmet soups and mac ‘n cheese such as chicken tortilla soup, loaded potato soup, creamy chicken and wild rice soup and mac and cheese; and sweet treats such as red velvet cake slice, white chocolate cake slice, chocolate marshmallow crispy bar and buttercream frosted flower cookies.
In the Airport Center, the new Chicken Salad Chick restaurant will offer seating for around 70 guests at booths and tables with chairs, Amanda said.
The eatery will be a fast-casual establishment, with customers placing their orders at a counter, but staff members will deliver food to tables and also clean up after guests are finished eating, Amanda said.
Dine-in service, catering, takeout and delivery (through Grubhub, DoorDash and other partnering platforms) will be available.
Chicken Salad Chick prioritizes giving back to non-profit organizations and individuals in need in the communities that it serves, and the Greenfords plan to continue that practice by bringing birthday cakes to local children undergoing cancer treatments, Amanda said.
Prior to its grand opening, the Airport Center location also will host a friends and family event where funds will be raised for Reading-based Hope Rescue Mission, which provides emergency shelter, meals and supportive services for men, women and children experiencing homelessness in Berks County.
Courtesy Chicken Salad Chick Allentown
“We had the idea to open these restaurants not to just offer the community something different and great, but also to have a huge chance to do good in the community,” Amanda said.
In recent months, the Greenfords have hosted pop-up events, where they’ve served Chicken Salad Chick samples at various Lehigh Valley venues, and the community’s feedback has been very positive.
“We’ve had such a good response from the community already, with people loving all of the different flavors,” Amanda said.
“We’re getting messages almost every day from people who have either tried the samples at our pop-ups or know of Chicken Salad Chick from when they visited Florida, Georgia or wherever, and they’re saying how much they can’t wait for our restaurant to open. It gives us a really great feeling.”
To celebrate their grand openings, Chicken Salad Chick restaurants offer free chicken salad for a year to the first 100 guests, with the first guest in line receiving one free large Quick Chick of chicken salad per week for a year, and the next 99 guests in line receiving one free large Quick Chick of chicken salad per month for a year.
Individuals can stay updated on the Allentown area restaurant’s progress and other happenings, including an official opening announcement, by following Chicken Salad Chick Allentown’s pages on Facebook and Instagram.
At the Airport Center, Chicken Salad Chick joins an evolving lineup of businesses that includes another coming soon tenant, Hobby Lobby, which is expected to open in the fall in a renovated space that previously housed a Christmas Tree Shops location.
A new Hobby Lobby location is coming soon to the Airport Center in Hanover Township, Lehigh County.
Ryan Kneller
Earlier this year, the shopping center bid farewell to a location of On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, a chain offering Tex-Mex cuisine at more than 120 restaurants across the United States and internationally; and Wren Kitchens, a United Kingdom-based kitchen designer, manufacturer and retailer, which announced plans to close all of its locations in the United States.
The Airport Center, which opened in 2009, is home to more than two dozen tenants, including large chains such as Sam’s Club, Target, Old Navy, Ulta Beauty, DSW, Famous Footwear, Ross, Five Below and Five Guys
Other businesses joining the mix over the past few years include Pilates studio Club Pilates, sports gear retailer Rally House and Japanese restaurant Kinya.