June 22, 2021

The sign is up – but it’s not yet clear when the doors will open for the new east-side Slim Chickens.

Franchisee Todd Porter announced plans for the East 10th Street location last year and put up a sign recently to promote that it’s coming.

“We haven’t set a date with the franchise, and there’s no deadline,” he said for the third Slim Chickens site in Sioux Falls. “When we get it done, we’ll get it done.”

Challenges on the supply side, from construction materials to restaurant equipment, are making it hard to plan, he said.

“We’re out getting hard bids right now trying to make sure we can stay somewhat close to some of the budgets,” he said. “Some (supplies) are out 10 to 14 weeks.”

One challenge he did anticipate – hiring – has been a pleasant surprise, he said.

“We’re having a lot better luck recruiting and hiring,” he said. “I was worried about that, but we’re fully staffed. We have all the managers for that store in training, so we should have a nice experienced management team when we’re ready.”

The plan is to get started yet this year, though.

“It would be good to get enclosed before a hard frost,” Porter said.

From the start of construction, it’s three to four months until opening.

The rest of his restaurants, which include Chevys Fresh Mex, Johnny Carino’s and PizzaRev in Sioux Falls, are busy, he said.

“Business is good,” he said. “We’re up in sales. It just took off almost immediately as soon as we got people back into the restaurants. Even at 50 percent capacity, business just started skyrocketing, so it’s been quite surprising but good.”