By CASSANDRA MICKENS/Associate Editor

HOOVER —Auburn-based Chicken Salad Chick plans to open a location at the Village at Lee Branch shopping center off U.S. 280, according to the company’s website.

The Hoover restaurant is one of three locations to open in the Birmingham metro area. Two other leases are under negotiation for locations in Cahaba Heights and Homewood. Simply Southern Restaurant Group, the official franchisor of Chicken Salad Chick, will own the Hoover restaurant.

The 3,000-square-foot Hoover restaurant will seat around 88 customers inside and another 20 customers on an outdoor patio. Husband and wife Kevin and Stacy Brown opened Chicken Salad Chick 2008, after Stacy’s home kitchen recipes became a hit among neighbors in Auburn.

Upon learning that selling her chicken salad from her home was against the law, prompting the Lee County Health Department to shut down her operation, the Browns worked to open their first restaurant in Auburn. Since that time, Chicken Salad Chick has grown to include locations in Huntsville, Mobile, East Montgomery, Montgomery, Northport, Opelika, Tuscaloosa and two locations in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

“Chicken Salad Chick is a place all chicken salad lovers can find something to enjoy.

“With 15 different chicken salads to choose from, there is something for every palate,” Stacy Brown wrote on the company’s website. The restaurant also serves soups, side salads and desserts.

The Hoover restaurant is slated to open in early September.