Chicken Salad News

Chicken salad restaurant that sparks joy scoops new location in Irving

Bow down to the chicken salad.

Photo by Sara Hanna

A restaurant chain that specializes in chicken salad is chaining it up in Dallas-Fort Worth: Chicken Salad Chick, which perhaps unsurprisingly is the nation's only Southern-inspired, fast-casual chicken salad restaurant concept, is opening a location in Irving, at 3341 Regent Blvd.

At Chicken Salad Chick, they sell chicken salad by the pound, for about $10 per; they plop it onto sheets of paper on a tray, not unlike barbecue. Diners can customize their chicken salad with various flavor add-ins such as pickles, apples, cranberries, pecans, jalapenos, and bacon.

CSC also does soups and side salads using some of the add-in ingredients, such as cranberry-apple salad, pasta salad with olives and artichokes, and broccoli salad with cheese and bacon.

The concept was established in 2008 by founder Stacy Brown. The company now has more than 109 restaurants open in 13 states, including Fort Worth and Hurst, as well as two locations near Houston.

Situated in a shiny new strip center near the intersection of 635 and Belt Line Road, the Irving Chicken Salad Chick will open on February 13, with various giveaways and specials designed to entice you to rush over there on opening day that include things like a cooler and a raffle for free chicken salad, which is, after all, their speciality. For chicken salad fans, this is nothing less than a gold mine.

Spearheading the growth in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is Irving resident and first-time Chicken Salad Chick franchisee Luis Ibarguengoytia of Metroplex CSC, LLC. According to a release, he's a restaurant industry veteran and multi-brand operator whose portfolio includes Bruegger’s Bagels, Cru Wine Bar, and Panda Express.

Ibarguengoytia and his wife Lesslie have big dreams for the chain with plans to open 15 Chicken Salad Chick locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth area over the next several years, with restaurants in McKinney, Arlington, and Mansfield slated to open in 2019.

In a statement, Ibarguengoytia says that the company "brings so much joy to its customers through its flavorful chicken salad recipes, endearing atmosphere and top notch customer service." You know what they say: If it sparks joy, then keep it.

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RIP Al

Beloved Dallas restaurateur Al Biernat dies at 69 after ALS battle

Dallas restaurateur Al Biernat, RIP

Beloved Dallas restaurateur Al Biernat, founder of the acclaimed local steakhouse Al Biernat's, passed away on November 13, following a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease; he was 69.

Biernat was one of Dallas' all-time great hospitality figures, dating back to his days at The Palm steakhouse, for whom he worked in Los Angeles, Houston, and Dallas.

Biernat founded his namesake restaurant in 1998 on Oak Lawn Avenue, where his standard of excellence and doting charm made it a destination for special occasions, Park Cities swells, and celebrities in town.

His sense of hospitality had little competition in Dallas. He was a charming and personable host who genuinely liked people, and it didn't matter whether you were Conan O'Brien, David Crosby, or one of the other high-profile diners that visited his restaurants — or else just a regular schlub: He had a knack for making everyone feel special and remembered.

Biernat was born on August 20, 1955 and grew up in Michigan, then lived in Colorado, New York, Los Angeles, and Houston, before moving to Dallas to work at The Palm in the West End, where his dynamic presence gave the restaurant an incomparable vitality; it closed in 2017.

He opened Al Biernat's at 4217 Oak Lawn Ave. in 1998, followed by a second location in North Dallas at 5251 Spring Valley Rd. in 2017.

He began to experience ALS symptoms in May 2023, was diagnosed in December, and revealed his condition in February 2024. The revelation was met with an outpouring of sympathy and well wishes from the hospitality industry — a sign of the high regard in which he was held.

The average life expectancy for people with ALS is two to five years after diagnosis. Symptoms can begin in the muscles that control speech and swallowing, or in the hands, arms, legs, or feet. He began to have difficulty communicating in September, and spent his last days in a hospice.

On September 18, he broached the topic of dying, before ending on a note of gratitude to friends and family.

"Having Bulbar ALS I am realistic about my future," he said. "Friends and family have asked me if I’m afraid of dying, and this is what I say to them. Because of the salvation of Jesus, I will be rejoicing in my spirit to see him in all of his glory. Since we are all flesh, soul, and spirit, only my flesh is being left behind. But don’t get me wrong, I have a blessed life in this world, with a loving wife, and a beautiful family and many wonderful and caring friends. I am grateful!"

Both Al Biernat's locations will continue to remain open under the management of Biernat's nephew Brad Fuller, as they have for nearly the past two years.

Biernat is survived by Fuller, as well as his wife Jeannie and three daughters: Angelica Saylor, Kaitlin Biernat Connell, and Jess Biernat, plus five grandsons and two granddaughters. . According to family members, details regarding a celebration of his life will be announced soon.

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