Chicken Salad Chick announced Thursday it will be expanding in Florida with its first location in Lake Nona. The new restaurant will open on September 27 and is located at 9470 Narcoossee Road. This location is owned and operated by existing franchisee team Adam Reeves and Carol Lynn Upshaw, who also own the Chicken Salad Chick restaurant near the University of Central Florida. Their Lake Nona restaurant marks the 16th Chicken Salad Chick location in Florida and the brand’s very first free-standing location with a drive-thru unit.

During grand opening week, guests will enjoy southern hospitality through giveaways and specials at the new Chicken Salad Chick restaurant:

• September 27—The first guest will win a free pound of chicken salad per week for an entire year; the next 99 guests receive a free pound of chicken salad per month.
• September 28—The first 50 guests to purchase a Chick Special will receive a limited edition Chicken Salad Chick RTIC Tumbler.
• September 29—The first 100 customers will receive a Meet the Chicks punch card. Guests can try one free scoop of the chicken salad flavor of the week for 16 weeks, allowing guests to taste every Chicken Salad Chick flavor.
• September 30—The first 50 guests to purchase a meal will receive a complimentary Chicken Salad Chick mini cooler and koozie.

All guests who make a purchase within the first week of business can also enter themselves into a drawing to win a free Yeti Cooler, valued at $400. The drawing will take place on Saturday, October 1 and the winner will be notified the same day.

Adam was first introduced to the brand through his old friend and Chicken Salad Chick founder, Kevin Brown. After spending 16 years in the investment industry, he decided to take on a new challenge and opened his very own Chicken Salad Chick restaurant in Orlando with his mother-in-law, Carol Lynn Upshaw, who has worked as a mortgage broker for the past 25 years.

“Kevin and I were great friends for years and used to eat chicken salad every afternoon after football practice,” says Adam Reeves, Lake Nona Chicken Salad Chick franchisee. “Today, 25 years later, I’m honored to be a part of this amazing concept that he helped build from the ground up. The brand’s culture and menu offerings have been so well received by the Orlando community, and I’m confident the residents of Lake Nona will be just as impressed with everything Chicken Salad Chick has to offer.”

The Chicken Salad Chick concept, born in Auburn, Alabama, was established in 2008 in the kitchen of founder, Stacy Brown. When Stacy discovered that the local county health department would not allow her to continue making and selling her delicious recipes out of her home kitchen, she overcame that obstacle by launching her first restaurant with the business expertise of her future husband and fellow founder, Kevin Brown. Together, they opened a small takeout restaurant, which quickly grew; the company now has 62 restaurants across the Southeast.