The hamburger may no longer be the king of fast casual, because America has a new fast
food obsession: chicken. These days, there are some newer, smaller players who are starting
to cash in on the poultry-obsessed populace. These are the chicken chains poised to take
over America.
If you've ever flown back to the United States from nearly any Central American country,
you may have noticed your plane smelling oddly like fried chicken. The reason for that is
Pollo Campero, a Latin American favorite that is often the food people who've moved to the
U.S. ask to have delivered via visiting family members. No exaggeration, you'll find more
bags of its citrus grilled chicken in overhead compartments on these flights than you will
suitcases.
"Surely, you can't be serious."
"I am serious. And don't call me Shirley."
Though Pollo Campero has been operating a number of stores in Miami, Los Angeles, and
other cities with large Central American populations, the brand is expanding into other areas around
the country. QSR reports it recently hired Sam Wong, the man who oversaw exponential
growth for Sonic, Popeyes, and others, to help bring Pollo Campero into new markets.
If he ends up being successful, you may find a lot less chicken on your next flight home.
Not that finding quick places to get wings has ever been a difficult chore in America,
but Wingstop is setting out to give people a little more variety than just the standard
spicy stuff. The Garland, Texas-based chain offers everything from mango habanero to Korean
to bayou barbecue wings. And if you're looking for atomically hot sauce or just the standard
Buffalo, Wingstop is happy to play the hits too.
The method is working, as Wingstop saw sales up over 20 percent between 2019 and 2020,
notching $1.46 billion in revenue across its 1,200+ locations. Nation's Restaurant News
named Wingstop among its 10 fastest growing restaurants in the country, and QSR also recognized
Wingstop's meteoric growth, citing its 107 new units in 2019 as a big reason why it landed
on the magazine's list of 19 fastest-growing restaurants. Combining that kind of growth
with a menu full of variety, it shouldn't surprise anyone if Wingstop is soon the country's
biggest name in chicken wings.
If you live in Florida or Georgia, you'd probably think Zaxby's was already a major player in
the fried chicken game. But the chicken strip specialists don't have much presence outside
the southeast. And though the chain boasts over 900 locations, according to QSR, it still
ranks sixth among chicken chains in terms of total locations.
That's about to change, though, as in November of 2020 Zaxby's announced it sold a large
stake in its business to finance giant Goldman Sachs. While that doesn't mean you'll be seeing
chicken strips on the New York Stock Exchange any time soon, it does mean you might see
it in places north of the Mason-Dixon line, and further west of the Mississippi. In addition
to opening more stores in Texas and Virginia, as they've said they want to make moves in
the Midwest, too.
Those outside of the Lone Star State may never have heard of this fried chicken chain, and
it's a shame that it hasn't grown farther, faster, because its recently introduced Big
& Golden chicken sandwich is an unheralded entrant into the fast food chicken sandwich
race. It's a full half ounce bigger than any other sandwich on the market, on a house-baked
roll with a whopping five pickles.
But one great menu item does not make a chicken juggernaut, and it's the company's aggressive
plans for growth that make it a probable national favorite. Golden Chick is planning some major
expansions, and lists an overwhelming number of addresses on its "Coming Soon" page. The
industry publication also cited its Destination 30 plan, where the restaurant is aiming to
open another 500 to 600 total stores. It also listed an average unit volume of $1.2 million,
a figure it's already hit.
Once a regional chicken chain relegated to curious road trippers through the American
South, Raising Cane's, or just plain old "Cane's" if you know what's what, is America's fastest-growing
chicken chain by sales growth according to Investopedia, who listed Raising Cane's as
the lone chicken joint on its list of fastest-growing restaurant chains with sales up 22.5 percent
to just over $1.47 billion between 2019 and 2020. At just over six bucks for a three-piece
combo, that's a whole lot of chicken strips.
Raising Cane's is raising attention from other publications too. The Louisiana-based chicken
joint also landed itself on Nation's Restaurant News' "10 Fastest-Growing Restaurant Chains,"
noting a 14 percent increase in Raising Cane's number of restaurants, up to 457 across the
southeast. According to Forbes, it's almost tripled its revenues, notching $3.6 million
in revenue per unit in 2020.
Unlike the glut of fried chicken and wings spots that dot this list, Chicken Salad Chick
specializes in, you guessed it, chicken salad. Inside the homey, southern-feeling restaurants
you'll find more than a dozen types of chicken salad, which you can have scooped onto bowls
or sandwiches. The brainchild of Stacy Brown and her late husband Kevin, this small restaurant
opened its doors in Auburn, Alabama in 2008, and expanded to 180 locations across 17 states,
as of February 2021.
Brown's expansion plans are ambitious, too, opening 40 new locations in 2019, according
to Chain Store Age, with plans to reach 400 by 2025. Chain Store Age also thought enough
of Chicken Salad Chick to name it one of its Breakout Brands in 2020, and the restaurant
plans to tackle the Midwest next. It'll be opening in Illinois, Ohio, and Missouri, and
adding to its presence in Indiana.
The memories Dan Leyva and his friends made at the Wings Over in Ithaca, New York during
their days at Cornell were strong ones, and when the local franchise bit the dust Leyva
texted his friends suggesting they take over and open it back up. Fast forward a few years,
and his group now owns the entire brand, poised to take the concept well beyond its college
town roots.
With a breath of fresh life, the new owners gave Wings Over a makeover, updating the brand's
look, ordering systems, website, and restaurant design in 2018. With that, the restaurant
has expanded to 38 stores as of February 2021, with plans to open a few more locations by
the end of the year. Wings Over is looking to branch out further into the Northeast and
Midwest next, opening in markets that cater to more than just hungry college kids.
"Bring me four fried chickens and a Coke."
"You want chicken wings or chicken legs?"
"Four fried chickens and a Coke."
Though Waterbury, Connecticut's Wing it On! doesn't boast a mind-boggling number of locations,
co-founder and CEO Matt Ensero says the slow expansion has been intentional. He explained
his future plans in a 2020 press release that said, in part:
"In the last 18 months or so we've been putting the infrastructure in place for growth, and
I am 100 percent confident that the time is right ... we're in a fantastic position to
expand."
Since then, the company has held true to Ensero's predictions. Wing it On! opened a handful
of new locations that set opening timeframe records for sales, according to QSR.
Ultimately, Wing it On! is aiming to have 100 locations open or in development by 2024.
It's planning to achieve this both by keeping locations small and the menu simple. Though
you can find a variety of flavors from mad mojo to chipotle ranch, you'll only find chicken
in the form of wings, strips, and sandwiches.
Nashville hot chicken is becoming as much of a brand name as Buffalo, and this is especially
evident at Fry the Coop, a Chicago chicken chain that's poised to be the nation's first
big Nashville hot chicken spot.
Though it's only got four locations in Chicagoland, Fry the Coop found ways to innovate during
the COVID-19 pandemic that set it apart. By converting doorways to takeout windows, and
investing in tents for throngs of to-go customers, Fry the Coop was able to make it through shutdowns
without laying off a single employee. They even saw sales increase of 20 percent, according
to Fast Casual. This impressive pivot has set Fry the Coop up for great future growth,
so much so that QSR named it one of its 40 top food startups of 2021.
Guthrie's started in 1965, and pioneered the idea of a chicken strips only menu, delighting
those who prefer ordering off the kids menu while simultaneously appealing to fried chicken
purists. The result was a 40 store regional chain with a cult following, and arguably
some of the best chicken strips in the land.
But according to a feature in Restaurant News, Guthrie's has plans to bring the original
chicken-strip-only experience to more markets. A new, smaller-footprint restaurant and simple
menu make it an attractive prospect for franchisees, and as a result, Guthrie's landed over a dozen
multi-unit deals in 2020. CEO Joe Kelly Guthrie, son of the chain's founder, is banking on
a massive expansion in the American appetite for chicken fingers to fuel the restaurant's
growth. He told QSR:
"I'm counting on (chicken fingers) being a $25 billion-a-year industry in the next 15
or 20 years. I believe you will see chicken-finger restaurants on every corner in every town."
Here's a stat that'll blow your mind: According to the NPD Market Research Group, quick service
chains sold a whopping 2.5 billion breaded chicken sandwiches in 2020, a 9 percent increase
from the year before. And it's into that arena that steps Chick N Max, and a boast that they're
building a better chicken sandwich.
The Chick N Max menu might be the most comprehensive of any chicken chain, where you'll find pulled,
smoked chicken alongside chicken tenders and an impressive slate of gourmet chicken sandwiches.
There's also smoked wings and roasted leg and breast quarters. It's a practical move
that allows the restaurant to purchase whole chickens from suppliers, reducing the restaurant's
costs. With a franchising vet at the helm, look for Chick N Max to be a major player
soon.
Rise Southern Biscuits and Righteous Chicken
Does anyone doubt, even a little bit, that America is ready for its first nationwide
biscuits and donut chain? Of course not, so that's why in May of 2018 when North Carolina-based
Rise Southern Biscuits signed a franchising agreement in California, it was pretty much
manifest destiny with carbs. And while that concept alone probably would have been enough
to propel Rise to chain restaurant stardom, the fried chicken boom of the next couple
of years led them to add Righteous Chicken to the fold.
Rise has been on a franchise agreement tear, most recently inking a deal for 15 new spots
in Tennessee. Their popularity stems from offering a full menu of chicken biscuit sandwiches,
an item that's typically a one-off in other crispy chicken joints.
"Wow" But is it worth it for that taste!"
Popeyes really did the entire chicken industry a favor when it launched the chicken sandwich
wars, because it allowed places like Salt Lake City-based Super Chix –- who've been
cranking out chicken sandwiches for years with little acclaim -– to finally hit the
spotlight. What first started in Dallas in 2014 has now spread to a dozen locations in
Texas, Alabama, Utah, Idaho, and Montana. The menu is long on fried chicken specialty
sandwiches, with stuff like Nashville Hot, Korean BBQ, and Buffalo Ranch.
But with the chicken sandwich explosion, Super Chix has cashed in, scoring 43 new agreements
in under a year, if you're keeping score. They'll be opening their doors in a number
of different states, and they're definitely worth keeping on the look-out for.
This wing-and-sandwich shop that started inside a Fayetteville, Arkansas sushi joint has seen
dramatic growth over the past few years, going from its hundredth store in 2019 to aiming
for a 600 by 2025. The key ingredient in making that happen (other than chicken, obviously)
has been an investment from 10 Point Capital, who according to QSR is the same investment
firm that brought Tropical Smoothie to the top of its category with nearly 800 locations.
While Slim Chickens isn't quite to that point (yet), its innovation during the COVID-19
pandemic has helped it maintain its growth plans without cutting the menu. Adjusting
to the new restaurant landscape meant record overall sales in a number of Slim Chickens
locations, as well as a vastly improved experience for customers who don't get out of their cars.
With 20 new units opening in 2020 and the chain's first expansion in Florida, that figure
of 600 stores may happen sooner than expected.
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