LAWTON — A chicken restaurant chain with a global presence and a reputation for down-home, Southern hospitality has come to Lawton, according to Slim Chickens co-founder and CEO Tom Gordon.
Speaking to Southwest Ledger from his corporate office in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Gordon said the chain, which first started in 2003 in the Ozarks university town of Fayetteville, opened this week on Cache Road in Lawton.
“As we built out the brand, we wanted there to be a feeling of warmth and comfort and Southern hospitality,” Gordon explained. “We wanted to have a place where people felt cozy and comfortable, people from around the country and eventually from around the world.”
With a total of 150 locations in 28 states, with 15 in the United Kingdom and two in Kuwait, Slim Chickens is a brand with a fervent following and reputation.
The latest location in Lawton joins eight other Slim Chickens restaurants in Oklahoma, including Edmond, Warr Acres, Norman, Stillwater, Tulsa, Owasso, Moore and Broken Arrow.
Gordon says the slow and methodical spread of Slim Chickens in the state continues, with potential locations in Woodward and Enid and an expected location in Muskogee, which is being built by franchisee Colt Harmon, the franchise owner and operator of the newly opened Lawton location at 6731 NW Cache Road.
Harmon, of Cabot, Arkansas, explained that he first heard about Slim Chickens soon after the first location opened in Fayetteville in 2003. He quickly became a fan and admired the brand and the focus on Southern hospitality and top-notch food.
“It’s a growing brand,” Harmon explained. “And Oklahoma is Slim’s top-performing market.”
For years, Slim Chickens has been a longtime sponsor of the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas, a town with a long blues history where blues legends like Robert Johnson and Sonny Boy Williamson II performed some eight decades ago.
As such, co-founder Gordon said the restaurant’s mascot — a chicken wearing clothes and a hat in the 1930s bluesman style — is part of the laid-back, Southern and blues-inspired vibe the restaurants project. A recent visit to a Warr Acres Slim Chickens location featured blues music being piped through the speakers underneath a colorful and eye-catching King Biscuit Blues Festival poster.
Honest food, friendly folks
Back at the new Cache Road location, Slim Chickens trainer Anna Ruiz talked about working for the growing company. She lives in Fayetteville and travels the country, helping to train new employees when a new corporate or franchise location opens.
“It’s more than a restaurant,” Ruiz said, as she sliced fresh strawberries. “We’re family. We’re a whole different culture and (working here) is a really good experience.”
Ruiz — who raved about the vast variety of sauces the restaurant offers — was one of seven trainers on-hand to assist training 85 total employees.
Another trainer, Jaqueline Figueroa, of Fort Smith, said she has been with the company since 2019 and said while the food is great, it’s the people that really make it a great place to work.
“It’s very family oriented,” Figueroa said. “Everyone looks out for each other.”
New employee Nyeisha Bell, of Lawton, echoed that sentiment.
“The manager really cares about us,” Bell said. “They take great care of both the customers and employees.”
Customer Josh West, an Arkansas native stationed at Fort Sill, said he was simply looking for a place to eat and settled on Slim Chickens, on a whim.
Taking a bite of his fried chicken, West said, “It’s delicious.”
Windy Collie, another Lawton resident, said she was working out at a nearby fitness center with her husband when they decided to give Slim Chickens a try.
“I’m just a curious person,” Collie said. “I saw them building it and the construction and I told my husband we need to stop and check it out. I’m glad we did.”
Franchisee Colt Harmon says, in addition to the planned Muskogee location expected to open in early 2022, he is looking just across the Red River at Wichita Falls, Gainesville and Sherman, Texas — all places to introduce Slim Chickens’ “Delta blues and honest food.”