From TCU to Slim Chickens: Tom Gordon’s Fast-Casual Success Story

As an undergrad at TCU, Tom Gordon ’97 never envisioned building a company that would employ more than 12,000 people around the globe. But within three decades of earning a degree from the Neeley School of Business, the entrepreneur and innovator behind Slim Chickens helped grow the fast-casual chain, best known for its hand-breaded tenders and range of dipping sauces, to nearly 400 restaurants — and counting.

“I believe in leadership and taking care of people and doing the right things,” said Gordon, who co-founded Slim Chickens in 2003 and serves as its CEO. “But in some ways, I still don’t know how we pulled it off.”

Gordon still tests every new item on the Slim Chickens menu himself, a hands-on approach that’s been constant since the first location opened in February 2003. Photo by Iron Lotus Creative / Stephen Ironside

His college friends, however, express anything but surprise at Gordon’s astonishing success.

“Here was this 18-year-old kid from Little Rock who believed in himself even then,” said Cary Tremper ’96, a Sigma Chi fraternity brother who is president and CEO of Tremper Capital Group in Dallas. “Tom is also one of those folks you meet in life who wants to give more than he receives.”

“Tom’s always been a very charismatic guy who works really hard,” said John Kuykendall ’97, a fellow Neeley grad and fraternity brother who’s now a Dallas-based senior vice president and managing director at MidFirst Bank. “When we were younger and we’d all go on boys’ trips and bachelor parties, he couldn’t go. He was busy building his business.”

Build it Gordon did. In 2025, the brand opened more than 70 restaurants and is on pace to have 600 by 2029. Not bad for a guy who, along with co-founder Greg Smart, invited friends in the early 2000s to taste-test chicken and sauces in Smart’s garage, then tweaked recipes based on their feedback.

“I’m still a hands-on leader who sees and tests any new item on the menu,” Gordon said. In addition to tenders, Slim Chickens serves wings, sandwiches, wraps, salads and more with an emphasis on Southern flavors and hospitality. Meals are often served with Texas toast, mac and cheese and a TikTok favorite, fried pickles.

At the same time, Gordon is a visionary charting the future of the brand alongside Smart, Slim Chickens’ chief marketing officer.

“Our goal,” Gordon said, “is to grow and build out the organization to a worldwide restaurant powerhouse and a cultural phenomenon.”

BRIGHT BEGINNINGS

Gordon grew up in a tight-knit middle-class family that valued sitting down together and sharing a meal. While at TCU, where he studied finance with a concentration in real estate, he envisioned a future as a stockbroker or wealth manager. An internship at Merrill Lynch in Fort Worth following graduation changed his mind — money in and of itself never really lit his fire.

Gordon moved home and went to work at Macaroni Grill. “I needed to repay my student loans, and I did every job in the restaurant: waited tables, tended bar, was the sous chef, manager and a trainer,” he said. “It was my first formative operational experience in the world of restaurants.”

He was hooked.

Gordon moved to Los Angeles, where he tended bar while honing his understanding of the hospitality business. He kept asking himself the big questions about the guest experience: How do you make someone feel welcome, and what do you do to make them want to come back?

Three years into his tenure in Southern California, Smart called to pitch Gordon on starting a fresh chicken tender restaurant in Northwest Arkansas. The location was key to the concept: More than a billion chickens are raised each year in Arkansas, mostly in the state’s northwest corner, which is home to Tyson Foods, one of the largest food companies in the world.

With input from those early homegrown focus groups, longtime friends Gordon and Smart perfected a marination process that used buttermilk, plus their seasoned breading, a proprietary blend they concocted. The business partners then leased space in an old building on College Avenue, two miles from the University of Arkansas’ flagship campus. They opened the first store in February 2003, not long after Gordon’s mother came up with the catchy company name — a play on Slim Pickens, the actor and rodeo performer.

“We borrowed money from family,” Gordon said. “We borrowed money from friends. We applied for every credit card we could get and maxed them all out. We used all our savings. Borrowed money against vehicles. Even still, we started on a shoestring budget, a wing and a prayer.”

“I believe in leadership and taking care of people and doing the right things. But in some ways, I still don’t know how we pulled it off.”
Tom Gordon

Two years later, they opened a second location in Rogers, Arkansas. By the end of the decade, they had built nine Slim Chickens restaurants in Arkansas and Oklahoma. All the while, they stuck to the original premise of only using fresh, never frozen, chicken. They also mix fresh sauces in every location.

“Those early years were hard and money for payroll at times was tight,” said Ianni Palandjoglou ’97, a longtime sounding board for Gordon who serves as a managing director at Brown Brothers Harriman’s Houston office. “But Tom was always fun, social, hardworking and adaptable, and he surrounded himself with good people. He was going to find a way to make it work.”

“In those early days, close to 10 years, it seems that we both did about everything and anything needed to support and grow the business,” Smart said. “With a startup business you have to learn everything you can and learn how to operate at all functions in order to make the best decisions.”

ACCELERATED GROWTH

Gordon and Smart recognized early on that growth would include franchising, which would enable the chain to expand more rapidly thanks to outside capital. The first Slim Chickens franchise opened on the Arkansas side of Texarkana in 2013. By mid-2026, the eateries, all decorated in a Mardi Gras palette of purples, greens and golds, can be found in 32 states.

“Tom has always been good at recruiting and encouraging the right people to join our team,” Smart said. “Success is a team effort and finding the right people is critical. People want to work for leadership that supports individual and team growth with clear expectations.”

In March 2018, the company unveiled its London location, the inaugural store in the United Kingdom. A strong relationship with the British Boparan Restaurant Group and a perceived void in existing options for made-to-order tenders and other quality Southern fare spurred the expansion. A year later, Slim Chickens opened in Cardiff, Wales, and Bristol, England. Today, there are more than 70 stores around the UK, including Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland, and in London’s famed Leichester Square.

“I was in London last summer and had no idea there were so many Slim Chickens there,” Kuykendall said. “The British really love Slim Chickens, and I couldn’t be happier for Tom. It’s an amazing success story.”

Franchisees travel to Northwest Arkansas, where Slim Chickens uses its 10 area stores as a base of training. Gordon anticipates the company, which also has stores in Ireland, Germany and Malaysia, will expand to one or two countries a year for the foreseeable future.

Gordon spent three years bartending in Los Angeles asking himself what makes someone feel welcome and want to come back. Those questions shaped Slim Chickens’ approach to hospitality. Photo by Iron Lotus Creative / Stephen Ironside

“Wherever we move into new markets, we try to find ways to understand what the community wants, what they need and what they like about the brand,” Gordon said, noting they expect to grow by at least 50 stores annually. “Seeing franchisees meet with success and seeing general managers rise to the occasion and create a career — those are great moments for me.”

Another great moment was sending his older son, Will, to TCU in fall 2025. Gordon and his wife, Leslie, also have a 16-year-old son, Luke, a competitive tennis player who trains and attends school in Murcia, Spain.

“I tell my kids that the only currency any of us really have is our integrity and our name,” said Gordon, who noted the company partners with organizations — from local PTAs to the national campaign No Kid Hungry — for frequent fundraisers. “We talk around here about life-changing chicken. Slim Chickens should change lives for our guests and our team members. It should change lives for our community, and it’s changed lives for all of us in the corporate office.”