The owner of the franchise rights for Slim Chickens restaurants in Arizona has tentatively identified a site in Maricopa and is in negotiations to bring the concept to the city.

Tom Barnett, who owns both the existing Burger King franchise in town and the one under construction on Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway, also the rights to Slim Chickens, a fast-casual restaurant Barnett describes as a competitor to Chick-Fil-A.

Barnett has been actively looking to bring a Slim Chickens franchise to town since at least July. He has signed an agreement to bring up to 32 of the chicken-focused restaurants to Arizona, to go with the 53 Burger Kings he already operates across the state.

“We’ve been looking all over down there, and we just haven’t found the right thing yet,” Barnett said earlier this year. “Of all the places I’m looking at, Maricopa is going to be the best market by far.” Barnett declined to identify the location for which he is negotiating or give a timeline for opening.

He is bullish on the city as a market for his new restaurant.

“The Slim Chickens in Maricopa is going to be the biggest restaurant we ever opened,” he said earlier this year. “If we open four or five of these in the next year, Maricopa is going to do the most sales by a mile.”

https://www.inmaricopa.com/chicken-restaurant-maricopa-location-barnett/