Chicken Salad Time

First-in-Texas restaurant does chicken salad every which way for Fort Worth

Chicken Salad Chick specializes in chicken salad.

Photo by Sara Hanna

Chicken salad is headed our way via Chicken Salad Chick, a new chain whose first location in Texas will open in Fort Worth at the Presidio Towne Shopping Center. The penciled-in opening date is this spring.

Chicken Salad Chick is a fast-casual concept based in Alabama that specializes in chicken salad. Diners can customize it with 15 various flavor add-ins such as pickles, apples, cranberries, pecans, jalapenos, and bacon. The chicken salad is sold by the pound, for about $10 per. The restaurants use trays with sheets of paper onto which the chicken salad is scooped. Everything is disposable.

They also do 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.

Bringing Chicken Salad Chick to Texas are John and Meggie Schissler, who will open two more locations in the Fort Worth area over the next few years. According to a release, Meggie encountered Chicken Salad Chick in 2009 when she would meet local students at the restaurant as part of her ministry outreach. She was previously employed in their marketing department.

"After working in the corporate office for several years, and marketing this one-of-a-kind brand to cities across the Southeast, I couldn't wait for the day when Chicken Salad Chick would open in Texas, my home state," Meggie says.

The Chicken Salad Chick concept was founded in 2008 by Stacy Brown, who used to make chicken salad in her home kitchen. There are currently 49 locations across the Southeast.

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Pop-Up News

Downtown Fort Worth pop-up Anna's Table serves tacos and tasty bites

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Anna's Table

A pop-up is doing tasty small bites and Mexican eats in downtown Fort Worth: Called Anna’s Table, it's a combination caterer and pop-up that sets up shop every weekend at Basic Bar at 904 Houston St., next door to Son of a Baker Pizzeria.

The location is no coincidence: Anna's Table founder is Anna Villegas, sister of Joshua Villegas, who opened Son of a Baker earlier this year.

Her pop-up is open on Friday and Saturday nights with a rotating selection of tacos and small bites. A typical menu might include a Mini Iron Skillet Mac & Cheese, Jalapeño Poppers, Fried Chicken Skins, Mozz Blocks, and Tater Tots.

She frequently offers a 3-for-$15 deal so that customers can create a little mix-and-match meal with, say, a burger slider, fried mozzarella, and shrimp cocktail mini tostadas.

Anna is a longtime caterer and chef, who is mostly self-taught.

“I started out in my kitchen, realized I had a knack for cooking, and went to YouTube University to learn some of the skills,” she says.

Her pop-up has caught the attention of former NFL player and chef-owner of Not Just Q BBQ David Hawthorne, who introduced her to an idol: Aaron Sanchez from MasterChef.

"David FaceTimed him from my pop-up and Aaron answered," Anna says. "David introduced me as 'an up-and-coming chef in Fort Worth.' It was a really cool experience."

For her catering business, she schedules one or two events per month such as weddings and quinceañeras.

"I love having one thing to focus on for two weeks — I like to cook and come up with all the concepts," she says.

When she started her pop-up in 2023, she was helped by Joshua; she now returns the favor at Son of a Baker. While she is not slinging pies, she creates most of the sauces, such as a recent tzatziki yogurt sauce for a Greek pizza.

"I really look up to my brother,” Anna says. “He's doing the everyday in and outs of a business. And family is the backbone to everything we do."

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