Chicken Salad Chick — Restaurant in Middletown

We finally made it to this location of Chicken Salad Chick. We've been to the location in Jeffersonville a few times and liked it, but this was our first shot at the new location.

Getting in and out of this parking lot is probably the biggest challenge you'll face. The driveway isn't well-marked and coming down Shelbyville from Hurstbourne it's VERY easy to miss the not-clearly-marked IN driveway and I did, in fact miss it ... twice.

Once inside the décor is like the other locations we've been to. We don't frequent Chicken Salad Chick often enough to have a favorite, so we look at the menu board. I usually go to the Jalapeño Holly sandwich "toasted" on white bread. My wife gets a scoop of whatever sounds good at the time. This time I opted for mac-and-cheese as my side.

"Toasted" is a pretty broad and largely inaccurate word in this case. I sincerely doubt they actually toast the bread in the store. Only the outside sides of the bread were "toasted". This inside (facing the chicken salad) was as white and un-toasted as a slice of bread could be. It was also very not-hot. In fact, rather cool to the touch.

The Jalapeño Holly wasn't bad. A bit on the dry side and I had to keep reminding myself of the 'jalapeño' part because you could barely taste it. The side (mac-and-cheese) was pretty unremarkable. I don't know that I've tried all four of the sides yet, but the mac-and-cheese is better than the pasta salad, which is as generic as it could be.

The staff always keeps busy and are quite pleasant. It took less than ten minutes to get our orders, and tables were cleaned almost immediately. I was actually quite impressed with the upkeep on the drink station. Quite often drink stations are overlooked, but the staff did a great job keeping it very clean.

After we were done we had to get out of the parking lot. Once again, not easy because, while the OUT driveways were clearly marked, they had a cone in the middle. I knew better than to try to turn left out onto Shelbyville so I went right and turned around. I can see where it could easily back up those trying to leave if someone is determined to make that left turn.

All in all, a pretty good experience. The engineer who did the parking lot layout should never be in charge of laying out a parking lot again, but everything...

Food was amazing! However service was lacking. I brought my sister and she ordered exactly an item as it was shown on the menu...word for word. When they brought our food out her was wrong. We asked if this was in fact the item she ordered. They kept saying something about it being a side. And explaining what she ordered wasn't a side. I've only been here once before and the menu seems to be kind of confusing...but my sister pointed to their picture on their menu and ordered the item by name...we didn't ask for it to be a side. We didn't even know to ask for that...and it can't be so we got that! So the lady went and got someone else. We explained again that she just wanted the item she had clearly asked for...was that this? No, it wasn't....ok, well can we have that? Is it available? Is it still a menu item? Ok good...then can we have it? Finally after about 10mins. someone else came out and brought the correct item to my sister. I told them if we needed to pay more I would I just didn't understand the confusion. This lady said it can be confusing so no worries. It was a salad...she ordered a classic salad. That was the name listed, pictured, and yet it was not so easy to get. My sister and I loved the food so much I am sure we will be back...but it would be helpful to allow guests to order the food on the menu as it...

This is a tough one to allocate stars. The food and service are 5 stars. My son LOVES their BBQ chicken salad BLT. I had the BLT also but with the ranch and bacon chicken salad. Mine was good, but the BBQ won this contest.

Their ranking takes a big hit since onsite parking is atrocious! There are a minimal number of parking spaces with many requiring parallel parking skills, which too many people apparently severely lack. If there are no spots available (think peak lunch hours), you are forced back onto Shelbyville Rd. You can't circle the parking lot again because they have traffic cones blocking that off. Anyone who has experienced Shelbyville Rd., especially during lunchtime, understands how insane and time-consuming it is to attempt to make a left onto it (should you want to try your luck at the tiny parking lot again). Don't try to park next door as all of those spots are dedicated to the two shops there, and they are quick to call the tow truck. We ended up parking further down the road at Havana Rumba, but you still run the risk of getting towed.

Bottom line is the food is worthy of your money, but don't get your hopes up for dining in. This is a shame as the inside is decorated nicely and comfortable. Next time, I'll just get...