In the world of fast-food restaurants, it seems that the chicken sandwich of one form or another is the hot commodity these days. Everyone is putting out their version of the super-popular menu item. Of course our man Shaq has been in the chicken business for some time with his “Big Chicken”restaurant chain. Now he’s adding more outlets to the growing roster.
This time the location is Houston, Texas. In a local restaurant scene awash with names like Church’s, Popeye’s, Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, KFC, Dave’s Hot Chicken, and Bojangles, enter O’Neal and his own chain.
If you’ve been following along with the Big Chicken story here on the ShaqFu Radio blog, you already know that the first restaurant had an interesting and unusual location: on board a Carnival Cruise Lines ship. Since then additional stores have been opened in far-flung locations like Las Vegas and Glendale, California.
In addition, Shaq’s team has negotiated deals to put the up-and-coming restaurants in sports locations, like the brand new ice arenas in Seattle (home of the Kraken), and in New York, at the new UBS Arena, home of the Islanders.
Founded in 2018, the restaurant chain is just now getting up to speed and adding a good number of locations around the country. In Texas, foodie website Houston Eater says their city is next for a chicken-based Shaq attack.
Texas seems a popular place for the chain. There are already plans in the works for more than 50 different Big Chicken locations in Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin. Some of those locations are already open, but most are in the planning stages.
To be honest, the office crew at the ShaqFu Radio blog has yet to have the pleasure of eating at a Big Chicken restaurant, but we can’t wait! The menu is a fusion of O’Neal’s childhood favorites and popular eats of today. Of course crispy chicken sandwiches are the main staple.
Still, there are plenty of interesting new takes on the standard far. We’re smacking our lips over the idea of one of the popular sides, Cheez-It crusted mac and cheese. In addition, there’s O’Neal’s signature “Shaq Attack” chicken sandwich topped with pepper jack cheese, jalapeno coleslaw, and spicy chipotle barbecue sauce.
Not to forget his friend, there’s also the “Charles Barkley”… a chicken sandwich with all kinds of cheese, crispy fried onions and roasted garlic aioli. We also can’t wait to sample the other sides like the “dirty” fries that are covered in cheese, bacon, banana peppers, and chipotle barbecue sauce.
OK, now we’re hungry. See you in Houston!