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Photo by Sara Hanna Photography.
0614 Chicken Salad Chick
Chicken Salad Chick offers 16 unique varieties of chicken salad that can be served on their own or on a croissant.
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Photo by Sara Hanna Photography.
0614 Newks
Newk’s Favorite salad features toppings such as dried cranberries, grapes and artichoke hearts.
New ingredients are being added to the 280 corridor mix.
Within a month and a half, Newk’s Express Café, Chicken Salad Chick and The Egg & I announced plans to open locations in the area. These three, along with Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, which is currently under construction on Grandview Parkway, are scheduled to open by this fall.
“I think that there has always been a strong pull for restaurants out here — they just keep coming,” said Terry Ponder of Ponder Properties Commercial Real Estate. “One falls and another one comes.”
Illustrating his point, Ponder explained that The Egg & I will take the place of Dale’s Southern Grill in Arbor Place, and Big Bad Breakfast has replaced The Pita Hut next to the Walmart near the Highway 119 intersection.
Ponder also said there has always been a void in the area for breakfast, which explains the arrival of Big Bad Breakfast and The Egg & I.
The popularity of healthy food concepts is pulling more restaurants to the area as well, he said.
“I think there is a demand for healthy foods out here,” Ponder said. “People are health conscious out here. The fried places — Mrs. Winner’s [Chicken and Biscuits], for example — closed long ago.”
Accordingly, Newk’s Express Cafe and Chicken Salad Chick, Ponder said, are serving up healthier menus while also expanding their brands. He said Newk’s had been looking for another location in Birmingham for about a year prior to announcing it would open in Inverness Corners. The shopping center has attracted several new businesses since Winn-Dixie announced its arrival a year ago.
While Newk’s has several locations in Birmingham already, this will be Auburn-based Chicken Salad Chick’s first location in the market.
“When you are coming to Birmingham, you want to pick the best spots,” Ponder said. “Out here is a good spot.”
Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen
Where: 3500 Grandview Parkway
When: The restaurant has not released an opening date
What they serve: Pappadeaux serves a variety of seafood favorites with a Louisiana flair. Pasta Mardi Gras tosses linguine with crawfish, Andouille sausage and crimini mushrooms in a marinara cream sauce and topped with jumbo shrimp. For a chef selection, the Mississippi Catfish Opelousas is a blackened catfish with oysters, shrimp and crab in lemon-garlic butter sauce served over a plate of dirty rice.
Where they come from: Pappadeaux first opened in Houston, Texas, in 1976, and has now expanded to locations into seven different states across the country. Its Birmingham location will be the first to open in the state of Alabama, but it has locations in Georgia in Marietta, Alpharetta and Norcross.
The Egg and I
Where: The former Dale’s Southern Grill space in Arbor Place across from The Village at Lee Branch
When: Scheduled to open Aug. 6
What they serve: The Egg and I serves gourmet coffee and 100 percent fresh squeezed juice to accompany its breakfast foods such as benedicts, omelets, waffles and pancakes. The Parisian Benedict is a croissant half topped with ham, sautéed portabella mushrooms, melted Swiss cheese, two poached eggs, hollandaise sauce and green onions. For a sweeter breakfast sensation, the Raspberry Granola Pancake is served with low-fat yogurt instead of butter and topped with whole raspberries and granola. For lunchtime, fresh soups, sandwiches and salads are on the menu, but breakfast is served all day long.
Where they come from: The original The Egg and I opened in 1987 in Fort Collins, Colo., and has expanded to 21 different states. You can find other The Egg and I locations in Hoover, Vestavia Hills and Montgomery.
Newk’s Express Café
Where: Inverness Corners
When: Scheduled to open at the end of September
What they serve: Newk’s delivers homemade pizzas, sandwiches, soups and salads in a casual dining venue. The Newk’s Favorite salad features a mix of greens and grilled chicken with gorgonzola cheese, dried cranberries, grapes, artichoke hearts, pecans and croutons all tossed in Newk’s Sherry Vinaigrette. For a California style pizza, the Deluxe is topped with ham, mortadella (large Italian sausage), mozzarella and provolone cheese, Roma tomatoes, red and yellow bell peppers, portabella mushrooms, kalamata olives and artichoke hearts.
Where they come from: Newk’s is based out of Jackson, Miss., and has expanded into 76 different locations nationwide. It is currently planning to open three additional locations in the Birmingham area, including the 280 location. Find other Alabama Newk’s locations in Vestavia Hills, downtown Birmingham, Mountain Brook, Tuscaloosa, Mobile, Montgomery, Huntsville and Opelika.
Chicken Salad Chick
Where: The Village in Lee Branch
When: Scheduled to open in early September
What they serve: Chicken Salad Chick’s specialty is — you guessed it — chicken salad. It offers 16 different varieties such as the Buffalo Barclay, a semi-hot salad resembling a platter of buffalo wings, and the Fancy Nancy, a fruity chicken salad with Fuji apples, pecans and seedless grapes.
Where they come from: Chicken Salad Chick is an Auburn original that opened in 2008, and now it is serving up chicken salad in 19 different locations across the South. The chain is looking to open up three to five new locations in the Birmingham area, including the location of US 280. You can find other Alabama locations of Chicken Salad Chick in Auburn, Opelika, Montgomery, Mobile, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa and Northport.
