A Golden Chick location on Golden Triangle Boulevard in Fort Worth has reopened under direct corporate operations, swapping out its previous management team as the chicken chain looks to sharpen its footprint in a growing corridor. The restaurant, which serves the nearby neighborhoods, apartments and businesses that have sprung up around it, held a grand reopening event on Wednesday, drawing Texas Rangers alumnus Ian Kinsler for an autograph session from 11 a.m. to noon.
According to RestaurantNews.com, Golden Chick refreshed the restaurant experience under an entirely new management team, with the location now open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Golden Chick CEO Mark Parmerlee invited former guests to give the restaurant another look now that it is under new management, saying the brand has deep roots in North Texas and that the reopening is a chance to connect with the growing community, per the same outlet. The event also featured a live remote from 105.3 The Fan and a prize wheel stocked with Golden Chick merchandise, and Golden Chick Rewards members could redeem a free Tex-Mex Tender Roll — a spicy Golden Tender tucked into a fresh-baked golden roll with queso and a jalapeño — with any purchase that day, limited to one use per person.
A Celebrity Tie-In Built on an Existing Sponsorship
Kinsler's appearance wasn't a one-off celebrity cameo. The former second baseman played eight seasons for the Rangers between 2006 and 2013 and was inducted into the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022, according to MLB.com. Golden Chick maintains an official corporate partnership with the Rangers, sponsoring youth autograph sessions and bobblehead giveaways at Globe Life Field throughout the 2026 season, including an April Dot Race Results bobblehead giveaway the chain presented, MLB.com reports separately.
Golden Chick has served chicken to Texans for nearly 60 years, with a menu built around Original Golden Tenders, the Big & Golden Chicken Sandwich, and Golden Roast Chicken, per the RestaurantNews.com release. The chain traces back to 1967, when it launched in San Marcos, Texas, as Golden Fried Chicken before Mark Parmerlee acquired it in 1989 and rebranded it in 1996, according to Wikipedia. Corporate headquarters now sits in Richardson, Texas, and Golden Chick now counts more than 250 restaurants across six states — Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Kansas. The chain operates as a franchise, per the same entry. More than 100 of those locations are concentrated in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex alone, per RestaurantNews.com.
Why Corporate Took the Wheel on Golden Triangle Boulevard
Handing direct management back to corporate at a single store is notable for a chain built almost entirely on franchising, and it arrives amid a rough stretch for Texas restaurants generally. The Dallas-Fort Worth metro recorded roughly 240 restaurant closures in the first half of 2026, part of a statewide total of 1,039 closures tied to elevated operating costs even as national food-service sales hit records, according to The Dallas Express. The outlet also notes that 42 percent of U.S. restaurant operators reported unprofitability in 2025.
Golden Chick has also been building out its back-end operations to support growth. The chain has partnered with ArrowStream on supply-chain management software that supports pricing audits, credit recovery and inventory visibility, according to ArrowStream's own announcement. Golden Tree Restaurants, the parent company, owns concepts including Texadelphia and Jalapeno Tree.
Road Construction and a Crowded Corridor
The reopening lands in the middle of a construction-heavy stretch of North Fort Worth. The City of Fort Worth is in the process of a $12 million bond-funded project widening Golden Triangle Boulevard from I-35W to Misty Redwood Trail into a four-lane arterial road, complete with new traffic signals and 10-foot shared-use paths, according to the City of Fort Worth. Nearby, contractor McCarthy Building Companies recently finished a separate expansion of Harmon Road between US 287 and Golden Triangle Boulevard, a project intended to address growth in the area, per Texas Contractor.
The corridor has become a magnet for new restaurant openings as the surrounding neighborhoods fill in. A second Jimmy's Burgers and Pizza location opened at 4741 Golden Triangle Boulevard, adding to the fast-casual competition along the same stretch of road.
A Separate Legal Case at Another North Texas Location
The corporate shake-up on Golden Triangle Boulevard comes not long after a federal case involving a different Golden Chick location in the metroplex. In September 2026, a federal grand jury indicted an employee at a different Golden Chick location in Grand Prairie under the Hobbs Act for allegedly plotting an inside-job armed robbery; federal agents arrested the employee after she unknowingly recruited an undercover agent, Hoodline previously reported. The case involves a different location from the Golden Triangle Boulevard reopening but underscores the broader legal and security scrutiny facing multi-state quick-service operators in North Texas.
Accolades and What's Next for the Brand
Golden Chick has picked up a string of recent honors, including a number 6 ranking in USA Today's 2026 10Best Best Fast Food Side award for fried okra and a number 7 spot in the outlet's fast food fries ranking, both cited by RestaurantNews.com. The chain also landed at number 77 on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 and number 151 on Nation's Restaurant News' Top 200 Restaurant Brands in the U.S. this year, while locally it took DFW Favorites gold for Best Chicken Wings/Tenders and silver honors for Best Cheap Eats and Best Sandwiches.
The Golden Triangle Boulevard restaurant offers dine-in, drive-thru, catering and third-party delivery, joining Golden Chick's existing footprint across Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Louisiana and Kansas. The company has said it plans to expand into Arkansas, Missouri and Arizona as it continues building out its multi-state presence.
