By Morgan Bryce
Associate Editor
Auburn’s Acre and Chicken Salad Chick were recognized as two of the South’s go-to culinary destination in recent national publications.
OpenTable.com, a San Francisco-based online restaurant reservation company, compiled a list of the South’s most popular restaurants based on user votes. Acre was one of 50 selected, and was also named as the “Best Restaurant in Alabama,” according to the article.
Opened in 2013 by Chef David Bancroft, the restaurant was built with the idea of being a “restaurant with sophisticated charm and repurposed architectural details serving stylishly modern food with roots deep in Southern soil. Good traditions for good people, a neighborhood place perfect for conducting business, relaxing with friends or making memories with family,” according to a statement on their website.
During the last five years, Bancroft’s work has earned him national recognitions, including winning Food Network’s “Iron Chef” television show title earlier this year, Southern Living’s “South’s Best Restaurant 2018” award, and a member of the Best Chefs in America board, among others.
“Simple, but not too simple”
Southern Living named Chicken Salad Chick as having “America’s Best Chicken Salad” in a recent online posting.
Following an exhaustive search and sampling of chicken salad establishments across the Southeast, the chain’s “Fancy Nancy” style proved to be too stiff a competitor.
“The ‘Fancy Nancy’ recipe starts with a tried-and-true base of shredded chicken, mayo and seasoning, but gets its signature flair from chopped apples, grapes and pecans. It’s perfect because it’s simple, but not too simple,” according to an excerpt from the article. “Each bite either gives either crispiness from the apples, sweet crunch from the grapes or nuttiness from the pecans. Like we said, perfection.”
Founded in 2008 by Auburn resident Stacy Brown, Chicken Salad Chick has blossomed into a restaurant chain 85 locations across the Southeast.
“We’ve always been incredibly proud of our chicken salad, and know we have something special,” Brown said. “To have our Fancy Nancy be recognized as the best chicken salad in America by a renowned publication like Southern Living, well, that’s the ultimate complement.”
Below are links to the articles. For more information, visit both restaurant’s websites and social media pages.
www.opentable.com/lists/best-southern-restaurants-2018
www.southernliving.com/meat/chicken/best-chicken-salad-chick-fancy-nancy