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Home / Brands / Golden Chick
Brand profile

Golden Chick

Growingfried chickentendersregionalfranchisedgrowing

Franchise-led, concentrated in Texas with multi-unit operators driving expansion.

CSW Score

Methodology →
45
Rank #12 of 15 rated brands
3 of 5 components available
Unit Economics2023 FDD
43
Expansion2026
39
Real Estate Strength2026
56

Unit Economics has not been republished since 2023 FDD. It keeps its published value here — CSW does not roll a figure forward — and the rankings page lists every overdue input.

2501
U.S. units
2026 · 250th restaurant opened in Little Elm, TX; 240+ locations across TX, OK, FL, LA, MS and KS
231
Openings
FY2025 · All-time brand record for annual openings
Headquarters
Richardson, TX
Founded
1967
Parent / ownership
Golden Chick (private)
Structure
Private
CSW Analysis

Golden Chick is the best case study in this database for how a regional brand actually scales: not through a national franchise-sales push, but by finding two or three operator families and letting them compound. SXThree is on a path to 100 units by 2030; the Korpal brothers converted a second-generation Subway family operation into a 13-unit Golden Chick development agreement across Houston and Beaumont. Every incremental unit is being bought by someone who already owns units. For a brokerage or capital provider, that concentration is the opportunity — there are perhaps a dozen phone calls that control the brand's entire Texas development pipeline.

Real estate profile

Cap rate
Regional franchisee credit — prices at or wide of the 6.85% franchisee QSR benchmark2

Golden Chick's development is concentrated in Texas secondary and tertiary markets, where land basis and construction cost are materially lower than the metros the national brands are fighting over. That is the brand's structural advantage as a franchise investment.

Development pipeline

AnnouncedMarketCommitmentTimeline
2026Greater Houston and Beaumont, TX313-unit development agreement10 Houston units over four years; three Beaumont units over ten years
2025Central Texas, Alabama, Mississippi4100 units targeted by 2030Through 2030
2026Nevada, Arkansas, Missouri, Arizona1New state entriesOpening soon

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Unit movement

DateTypeDetail
2026OpeningLittle Elm, TX — 250th restaurant, following a record 23 openings in 2025.1

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Golden Chick in the news

2026-01Franchising

Korpal Group signs a 13-unit Golden Chick development agreement for Houston and Beaumont3

What it means for the Chicken Wars: Ten Houston units over four years and three in Beaumont over ten. Second-generation Subway operators redeploying family capital into a higher-AUV chicken concept is the single most common pattern in Texas chicken development right now — and it means ten Houston sites need to be found, entitled and built by an operator who does not yet control them.

2026Development

Golden Chick opens its 250th restaurant after a record 23 openings in 20251

What it means for the Chicken Wars: A 60-year-old Texas brand having its best development year ever, with entries planned for Nevada, Arkansas, Missouri and Arizona. Golden Chick's growth is concentrated in a handful of operator families — SXThree alone is targeting 100 units by 2030 — which makes the operator list, not the brand, the real pipeline.

Sources

Every figure on this page is attributed. CSW does not publish estimates as facts — where a number is unavailable it is shown as “—”, and where a figure is derived arithmetically from two published figures it is marked as derived.

  1. [1] QSR Magazine — Golden Chick Opens 250th Restaurant (2026)
  2. [2] The Boulder Group — Single Tenant Net Lease Report — Q2 2026 (2026-07)
  3. [3] Franchise Times — Subway Franchisees Expand Portfolio With Golden Chick Deal (2026)
  4. [4] Franchise Times — Franchisee SXThree Fuels Golden Chick Expansion (2024)