He’s at it again with the Big Chicken action. Our man Shaq has signed a franchisee for a new outlet of the restaurant chain founded by the NBA legend in downtown State College, Pennsylvania.
Here at the offices of the ShaqFu Radio blog, we’re picking up on a trend. Seems the big fella knows that college campuses are usually jam-packed with hungry mouths to feed, and he’s putting Big Chicken outlets in or near college campuses around the country. Being based here in Gainesville – home of the Florida Gators – we can’t wait to hear when we’ll be getting ouir very own BC. (Remember Shaq, your daughter is here now, playing hoops for the Lady Gators!)
For the Pennsylvania location, the new outlet will be right smack on campus, in the ground floor of a campus housing apartment building called oLiv Hetzel, at 448 E. College Ave. Kandy Weader, the commercial real estate agent for the building, wrote in a Facebook post on Monday that the deal is just about complete. The building is a 12-story mixed-use high-rise owned by student housing developer Core Spaces, which owns and operates other similar buildings at State College.
So the big, important question is of course: How long do the students and other fast-food-fanatics of State College have to wait for the Grand Opening? Things are moving along quickly, and the new Big Chicken should be open in time for the start of Penn State’s fall 2025 semester.
Plans for Big Chicken in PA have been in the works since October of 2923, and things are finally ready to run. Franchisees Harsimrat, Shubreet, Samarjit and Pukhraj Sidhu have plans for more BC outlets around the state, but State College was the first tapped for build-out and operation.
We’ve talked about Shaq’s Big Chicken several times before here on the blog. The menu “fuses O’Neal’s home-cooked childhood favorites with today’s trending flavors,” according to a company website. It offers a variety of crispy or grilled fried chicken sandwiches, tenders and wings with a choice of sauces, as well as a salad and kids meals. Sides include mac and cheese, fries and jalapeño slaw. For something sweet, it has shakes and sundaes.
There are several Big Chicken outlets already serving up the Shaq-inspired goodness around the country, and there’s even one (it was the first, BTW) on board a Carnival Cruise Lines ship. Along with the free-standing locations in several locations nation-wide, there are also Big Chicken storefronts in several major sports arenas, including the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, and UBS Arena in New York, both National Hockey League homes.There’s also one on the Strip in Las Vegas, and inside Comcast Center in Philadelphia, home of the 76ers and NHL Flyers.
“We are super excited to bring more BIG flavor, BIG food and BIG fun to the people of Pennsylvania,” Harsimrat Sidhu said in a news release in 2023. “We fell in love with the Big Chicken flavor profile and the variety of menu items they offer. Big Chicken really felt like a family to us.”
The Sidhu family has a background in the convenience store, retail and hospitality industries in Pennsylvania, according to the news release, and Shubreet Sidhu is a Penn State alumna.
As for future Pennsylvania locations, the franchise company is also scouting locations in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Lehigh Valley areas, according to the 2023 release.
O’Neal founded the Big Chicken chain in 2018 in Las Vegas with JRS Hospitality and Authentic Brands Group. It has expanded nationwide since the launch of a franchising program in 2021.