Why did the chicken cross York Road?
To visit Slim Chickens, of course.
The food chain is gearing up to open its first chicken restaurant in the Baltimore area next month.
Slim Chickens will open a new location at 11300 York Road in Hunt Valley on March 9. The franchise location is owned by Brad Hoag.
Operated by Phoenix Foods LLC, the chain has more than 200 locations across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, and Malaysia.
Here in the Old Line State, Slim Chickens has locations in Gambrills, Bowie, Clinton, and California, Maryland.
The company expects that the new Hunt Valley restaurant will create about 85 jobs, including hourly and management roles.
Chief Executive Officer Tom Gordon and Chief Brand Officer Greg Smart hatched the idea for Slim Chickens when they were in high school in Arkansas the ’90s.
They opened their original location in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Feb. 17, 2003.
“It was thrilling, exhilarating, exciting,” Smart said in a video on the Slim Chickens website. “You’re open for business the first day, people kept coming in, the business grew from word of mouth.”
“We kind of knew we had something right then when we saw guests quickly come back and see us,” Gordon said.
And the rest is history for these fine-feathered friends.
Editor’s note: The first version of this article reported that the Hunt Valley restaurant would open Feb. 23. The opening was later changed to March 2. It has been changed again to March 9. This article has been updated to reflect the new date.
