Minnesota’s First Chicken Salad Chick Welcomes More Than 3,200 Guests During Apple Valley Grand Opening Week
Published: August 11, 2026
APPLE VALLEY, MN: Minnesota’s first Chicken Salad Chick restaurant welcomed thousands of customers during its inaugural week in Apple Valley, marking a busy debut for the new addition to the city’s growing restaurant scene.
Chicken Salad Chick of Apple Valley reported that 3,246 guests visited the restaurant during its grand opening week, following its official opening on July 28 at 14658 Cedar Avenue in Cedar Marketplace. The restaurant is owned and operated by husband-and-wife team Mike and Mandi Boogerd, who have called Apple Valley home for the past 23 years.
The opening represented Chicken Salad Chick’s first entry into Minnesota and expanded the fast-casual restaurant brand’s footprint to 24 states.
More Than 3,200 Guests During Opening Week
The Apple Valley location kicked off its opening with several days of promotions and giveaways designed to introduce the Southern-style chicken salad concept to Minnesota customers.
Those promotions included the restaurant’s signature “Free Chicken Salad for a Year” giveaway on opening day, along with tumblers, cups and other giveaways throughout the remainder of grand opening week. By the end of the week, the restaurant had recorded a guest count of 3,246 people.
The turnout provides an early indication of the interest surrounding the chain’s Minnesota debut, particularly in a Cedar Avenue corridor already packed with restaurants. Rather than specializing primarily in fried chicken, wings or chicken sandwiches, the restaurant centers its menu around more than a dozen varieties of made-from-scratch, Southern-style chicken salad. Its menu also includes sandwiches, soups, fresh sides and desserts.
The Apple Valley restaurant offers indoor dining and an outdoor patio, along with takeout, third-party delivery and catering.
Longtime Apple Valley Residents Behind Minnesota Debut
For the Boogerds, bringing the first Minnesota Chicken Salad Chick location to Apple Valley also meant opening the restaurant in the community they have called home for more than two decades.
Before becoming franchise owners, Mike worked as a product owner at Optum in the healthcare industry, while Mandi spent her career working in special education. The couple previously said they discovered Chicken Salad Chick while visiting a location in Chicago and saw an opportunity to bring the concept back home to Minnesota.
The Boogerds have also emphasized community involvement as part of the new restaurant. Before opening, Friends & Family events at the Apple Valley location raised money for the Messiah Community Food Shelf, which provides emergency food assistance to Dakota County residents and is operated by Messiah Lutheran Church and 360 Communities.
Minnesota’s First Chicken Salad Chick Now Open
Chicken Salad Chick has grown to hundreds of restaurants across the United States, with Apple Valley serving as the company's first Minnesota market.
Following a grand opening week that brought 3,246 guests through the new location, the restaurant is now settling into regular operations as the newest addition to Apple Valley’s crowded and increasingly chicken-heavy Cedar Avenue restaurant corridor.
Chicken Salad Chick of Apple Valley is located at 14658 Cedar Avenue, between the Buffalo Wild Wings and Five Guys, and is open Monday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Written By: Will Wight
Photos Provided By: Chicken Salad Chick
