Chef Tiffany Derry's duck-fat-fried chicken is coming to Irving. Roots Chicken Shak plans to open a second franchised location at the Toyota Music Factory in Las Colinas, at 370 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Suite 102, though no opening date or grand opening plans have been announced.
The Irving restaurant will be run by Corey and Marian Epperson, the same couple already operating the brand's first franchise location in Addison, according to CultureMap Dallas. The couple has a personal tie to the Las Colinas neighborhood: they had their first date along the district's canals, per the same report. That Addison shop, which opened on Belt Line Road in December 2025, was Roots Chicken Shak's first franchised location.
The Addison location, which the Eppersons own and operate through T2D Concepts, officially opened its doors on Dec. 9, 2025, at 3748 Belt Line Road, according to Local Profile. That restaurant runs daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., the outlet reported. An Irving outpost is scheduled to debut before the end of the year, according to Dining Out.
From a Legacy Hall Counter to a Growing Franchise
Derry opened Roots Chicken Shak in Plano in 2017, a concept built around her duck-fat-fried chicken dipped in a proprietary spice blend, per Dining Out. Derry, a Beaumont native now living in Plano, is known for insisting on scratch-made food and bold Southern flavors, according to CultureMap Dallas. She gained international notoriety after competing on Season 7 of Bravo's Top Chef, a credential noted by Roots Chicken Shak's own website, and she has gone on to judge MasterChef and appear on the Food Network, per CultureMap Dallas. Back in 2013, she served as chef at Private Social in Uptown Dallas, the outlet also reported.
Derry and business partner Tom Foley run T2D Concepts, the hospitality group behind Roots Chicken Shak as well as Roots Southern Table and Radici Wood Fired Grill in Farmers Branch, according to CultureMap Dallas. The pair launched their franchising model for Roots Chicken Shak on Jan. 30, 2024, with an announcement describing a streamlined menu centered on Derry's signature chicken and an efficient restaurant footprint, according to a PR Newswire release.
What's on the Menu
Roots Chicken Shak serves chicken as wings, tenders, nuggets and other forms, along with chicken sandwiches on sweet potato buns, salads, red beans and rice, fried catfish, duck-fat fries and a baked potato casserole, per CultureMap Dallas. Signature items include the Big Bird sandwich and flaky biscuits topped with pepper jam and Steen's butter, the outlet reported. Ingredients are prepared in-house daily, according to a news release cited by CultureMap Dallas. The brand's own site lists duck-fat fried chicken wings and strips, the Big Bird and Spicy Bird sandwiches, a Shak Caesar Salad and Barnyard Cobb Salad, duck-fat fries with house-made Clucking Sauces, banana pudding and Southern sweet tea, according to Roots Chicken Shak's website.
A Franchise Model Built Around Opportunity, Not Speed
T2D Concepts has framed its franchising approach as a deliberate counterpoint to rapid, investor-driven expansion. “We haven't sought outside investments to try and go from three units to 33 units in a short period of time,” Tom Foley said, according to D Magazine. The model prioritizes finding franchisees from marginalized communities, especially women and minorities, the same report noted, and rather than screening candidates by net worth, bank balance or credit score first, T2D looks for people who embrace its core values, according to the PR Newswire release.
That hands-on philosophy extends into training. “I spent a significant amount of time with Corey going through hospitality, and teaching what hospitality is,” Foley said, per D Magazine's reporting. The goal, according to the January 2024 release, is to give under-resourced individuals the opportunity and resources to build a better life. The same D Magazine piece noted that the Eppersons were already discussing a second location not long after the Addison restaurant opened.
Derry said in a news release cited by CultureMap Dallas that she is excited to have the Eppersons grow with the company, while the couple said they look forward to building on their Addison experience with the second restaurant. Derry and Foley have said they plan to expand the Roots Chicken Shak brand through local partners, according to the same report, continuing a strategy that has already turned one Plano counter into a small but growing footprint across North Texas.
