Big Chicken is getting bigger! The fast-casual chicken restaurant founded by basketball star Shaquille O’Neal says it’s looking to open 12 franchise locations in the Phoenix Arizona area.
That’s in addition to the announcement not long ago that Big Chicken was also prepping a location in Austin, Texas. That restaurant will be inside a beautiful new music and sports venue on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.
If you’ve been following the ShaqFu Radio blog – or you live in the Las Vegas area – you already know that the big man has opened one restaurant in Vegas, and there’s also another one on board a Carnival Cruise Lines ship.
Now Shaq and his team are looking to expand in other cities, and the move into Phoenix will be the biggest growth spurt yet. Plans call for at least one new location to be open by the end of the year.
The Big Chicken management team told a business newspaper in Phoenix that they are currently looking at all the different suburban communities around the “Valley of the Sun” for new locations.
Big Chicken CEO Steve Halpern said they want to make a big splash in Phoenix and surrounding suburbs, some of the nation’s fastest-growing areas.
In addition to the move to Phoenix, plans are also in the works for a Big Chicken location that will be inside a new music and sports arena in Austin, the Moody Center at the University of Texas.
The team at Big Chicken says they’re open to trying new ideas for locations. That includes putting restaurants inside community gathering places like arenas and stadiums.
There’s already a Big Chicken being added to the new UBS Arena, where the New York Islanders hockey team will play, along with the brand-new Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington.
If you’ve never visited a Big Chicken restaurant, you’ll find a menu that includes fried chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, and sides, served with a new-style twist. Check out the fried chicken sandwich with macaroni and cheese piled on top!
O’Neal started Big Chicken with his business partner and friend Matt Silverman, and Shaq’s agent Perry Rogers. It’s not his first foray into the food industry. O’Neal owns various Papa John’s locations, and even makes occasional appearances in TV commercials for the pizza chain. In 2019, he joined the company’s board of directors.