Bayou Eats | Chicken Salad Chick

ARTICLE BY VANELIS RIVERA
PORTRAIT AND RESTAURANT PHOTOS BY KELLY MOORE CLARK

Ashley Keever, Krista Rhymes  and Matthew Miller opened Chicken Salad Chick seven years ago. This tasty franchise has quickly become a North Louisiana favorite.

Ashley Keever and her sister Krista Rhymes grew up receiving a business lesson from their father every morning. Ashley can still hear his voice saying, “Don’t buy a business unless you plan on being in there to run it, because it’s not going to run itself.” At the time, owning a business was not in the plans for either sister and even less running a restaurant. Ashley went into nursing while Krista became an accountant. Fortunately, that did not put an end to their business tutelage. Every day, Ashley would receive a call from her father asking about the latest updates on the stock market, even though it had just been open for an hour. “He taught us so much,” says Ashley, who had witnessed her father grow two successful restaurants. Even when she left nursing to partner with her sister in their first business, she didn’t know how close they were to following in their father’s footsteps. 

At just 17, Ashley and Krista’s mother, Christina Smith, immigrated to Canada from Salzburg, Austria. From there, she moved to New York, working as an interpreter at the United Nations. That’s where she met Jerry Keever, who hailed from Iowa. Eventually, the couple settled in Monroe, Louisiana, where Jerry opened Toto’s, a hamburger restaurant located near the University of Louisiana at Monroe. After a few years in business, he joined two associates and founded Podnuh’s Bar-B-Que, which opened its doors in 1977. It would eventually expand into 12 restaurants until it changed ownership in 2000. It’s understandable, then, why Jerry tried to instill in his daughters a spirit of self-reliance, which would quickly come in handy when one of the sisters’ favorite local stores was in the market for new ownership.

“My sister wanted it for years. She loved it. We always shopped there,” says Ashley of The Muffin Tin, a unique, specialty gift store. For years, Krista casually told the former owners, “If you ever want to sell it, call me first. I want it.” They took the offer seriously, and on Christmas of 1998, she got the call. At the time, Ashley was on a brief hiatus from nursing school, so when Krista asked her about becoming a business partner, she took it as a sign to change course. “Retail was something I never imagined I wanted to do,” says Ashley, adding, “I think I probably liked The Muffin Tin more than she did.” Five years later, the sisters purchased their second business, The Trenton House, a wedding-centered gift shop in West Monroe. It would take another 14 years before they pursued another business opportunity, but when they did, it would be a much tastier whim.

While most Southerners can point to their family’s go-to chicken salad recipe, Ashley did not taste the Southern staple until she was close to 17 years old. After all, she grew up on her father’s Midwest taste for mashed potatoes, gravy, and “anything beef, ” as well as her mother’s schnitzels, knödels, and goulash. She fell in love with the dish at a friend’s house when local icon Dianne Cage waltzed in with a basketful of her Chicken Salad Supreme covered in a red and white checkered napkin. Ashley still remembers her reaction, “I tasted it and was like, ‘Where has this been all my life?’” The inadvertent moment would prove fortuitous years later. Knowing her sister’s love for chicken salad, Krista returned from an accounting seminar in Birmingham, Alabama, with samples of every single flavor of chicken salad from “this place called Chicken Salad Chick.” Ashley was hooked! In fact, a few days later, she revealed to her sisters and father just how much she craved more of that chicken salad. Her father, who had always wanted the sisters to go into the restaurant business, started researching the restaurant but found they were not franchising in Louisiana, yet. Still, he didn’t think his girls should give up, saying, “If y’all ever get a chance to do this, y’all need to do it.” 

A few years later, Krista, who happened to be on a drive with Ashley, received a call from her now fiancé, Matthew Miller, who is from Shreveport. On speaker, he informed, “Hey, there’s a place opening up in Shreveport called Chicken Salad Chick.” The sisters looked at each other, and Krista, without missing a beat, said, “I’m about to call.” She discovered nobody was listed to franchise in Monroe, but the company wanted to allow Shreveport first dibs. “If they don’t want it, we’ll call you back,” they said. A month later, Krista got the call and all three were invited to headquarters, then located in Auburn, Alabama, and met with founder and owner Stacy Brown and Scott Diviney, who is still the president and CEO. The sisters and Matthew were impressed by the company’s focus on charity, community outreach, and embodying the company motto, “Spread joy, enrich lives, serve others.” And in 2018, Ashley, Krista, and Matthew opened their first Chicken Salad Chick, and at their friends and family opening, they made sure to invite Dianne Cage.

At Chicken Salad Chick, the unique flavors of chicken salad are more than just names. Each represents a real woman who has made an impression on Stacy’s life. Customers can celebrate these women’s stories one scoop at a time. On the menu, customers can stick to traditional recipes like the Classic Carol (all white meat, shredded chicken, finely minced celery, mayonnaise, and “our secret seasoning”) or venture into a variety of creative mixes. For savory flavors, try Lauryn’s Lemon Basil (“Our brightest flavor,” featuring chopped pecans, fresh basil, and lemon) or the Sassy Scotty (a zesty blend of ranch, bacon, and shredded cheddar cheese). Fruit lovers are sure to appreciate the Fancy Nancy (dressed with Fuji apples, seedless grapes, and pecans) or the Cranberry Kelli (a mixture of dried, sweetened cranberries and slivered almonds). For those like Ashley, who enjoy some spice in their life, you can’t go wrong with the Jalapeño Holly or the packed Kickin’ Kay Lynne, a flavor “powerhouse” of buffalo sauce, ranch, bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, jalapeños, and Sriracha. Also on the menu are signature sandwiches, salads, gourmet soups, pimento cheese, desserts, and fresh sides like broccoli salad, grape salad, and pasta salad. 

Currently, the company has 300 stores, and of those, the Monroe and Ruston locations have stood out, boasting a few awards including New Chick on the Block and Owners of the Year. “We’re in the very top percentile of stores,” beams Ashley, attributing their success to the level of owner engagement during the day-to-day operations of the restaurant. She thinks of her father stressing the importance of being present in a business, particularly being kept in the know of what is going on every day. Matthew adds the importance of providing customers with warmth from the moment they walk inside. A pivotal moment for him occurred during the pandemic. A woman rolled up to the restaurant and wanted to trade him a fresh crappie that she had just caught for a chicken salad sandwich. It wasn’t even a question. He gave her a meal. “That’s what we try to do with our team members,” he says, “remind them to understand, you don’t know what someone’s going through when they come through that door. You don’t know what their day has been like, so the least you can do is be friendly and spread a little joy to them.”

All Chicken Salad Chick restaurants are deeply committed to giving back to their communities through company and local initiatives. One fundraiser, The Giving Card, only costs $5 and supports a local food bank or charity, such as The Renewal Center of Northeast Louisiana, in addition to CURE Childhood Cancer, an organization that funds childhood cancer research while supporting patients and their families. Ashley and the team also enjoy surprising folks with platters of food. Not long ago, Matthew was busy getting sandwiches ready for ICU nurses at Glenwood Regional Medical Center. “They don’t know we’re coming,” he exclaimed, adding, “Trying to spread some joy to someone else.”

After 7 years in business, Ashley happily admits that owning a restaurant has been more rewarding than she ever thought it would be. Her father was right! Chicken Salad Chick is a perfect fit for his daughters. “My dad would be so proud,” she says of her late father. “He would just be doing cartwheels because this is what he wanted for us.” She can’t help but recognize the influence he had on her career, and she knows that if he were able to visit the restaurant, the chicken salad he would undoubtedly order would be the Barbie-Q.