The new Golden Chick restaurant in Brownwood gave City of Brownwood and Chamber of Commerce employees and other business leaders a sneak peek of their menu Wednesday before officially opening to the public on Thursday.
Owner Shazade Ghafoor of Glen Rose was present along with corporate officials including President Mark Parmerlee, Freddie Montemayor, and Jake Stanfill as they opened the door to an invitation only event for their VIP guests in the newly constructed Golden Chick at 563 W. Commerce in Brownwood.
Officials and staff were very attentive and welcoming to not only their invited guests but also other unexpected and faithful Golden Chick customers who were anxious for the Brownwood location’s opening. Although the restaurant was cooking food for the event attendees, many came thinking the restaurant was already open. Montemayor stated that there were three church buses full of kids who came in the afternoon and were very disappointed that Golden Chick wasn’t yet open to the public. He stated that the staff decided to feed the group anyway. Another woman came during the VIP event and spoke with corporate officials who told her they were not yet open to the public. She too was disappointed and had actually left another fast food restaurant nearby to “get some Golden Chick,” which was promptly brought to her with a smile.
According to Stanfill, the franchise is mostly concentrated in Texas and Oklahoma, but there are plans to open approximately 10 new restaurants in Georgia. The company is international with a franchise in Amman, Jordan and other franchises opening soon in China.
The new building, according to Montemayor, is constructed identically to others in the franchise to be recognizable to their customers with a clean and upscale atmosphere.
“We are a chicken place but we like to say we are not just the usual chicken joint, we are ‘fast casual,’” said Montemayor. “We build identical stores to separate us from the pack. We want to be the Starbucks of chicken.”
Montemayor stated that Golden Chick plans to have a “soft” opening, serving the public beginning Thursday and will plan to have a Grand Opening in the near future.
The Brownwood store, and 100th franchise of Golden Chick, opens under the management of Kimberly Caudill and Pam Gent.
About Golden Chick: The first restaurant, Golden Fried Chicken, opened in 1967 in San Marcos, Texas according to the company website, www.goldenchick.com. March of 1989, Golden Fried Chicken was purchased by an investment group which has seen steady growth of franchises since then. In 1993, the group brought new enhancements to the Golden Fried Chicken menu as well as the restaurant appearance and thus was born Golden Chick, the name of all of their restaurants opened since 1996.
Pictured above are attendees during the VIP event. Below is a picture of the new Brownwood location.
