On top of being an actor, sports analyst, DJ, musician, and basketball hall of famer, Shaquille O’ Neal, is also a proprietor of his own fast-casual chicken franchise. Appropriately named, Big Chicken, the franchise presently has locations in California, Las Vegas, as well as an assortment of ghost kitchens and well as arena outposts. Shaq has debuted its first location in Houston, one of the 50 outposts slated to open in Lone Star State.
With more locations soon opening in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston, the Big Chicken franchise specializes in comfort food fare. Its menu ranges from chicken sandwiches, popcorn chicken, and chicken tenders, to sliders, salads, and boozy shakes.
Its signatures include the “Shaq Attack” chicken sandwich with pepper jack cheese, jalapeño slaw, and spicy chipotle bbq sauce served on a brioche bun, as well as the Charles Barkley – a mac and Cheese, crispy fried onions, and raosted garlic bbq alioli stacked chicken sandwich.
Big Chicken’s sides, or sidekicks, are also noteworthy. Options include house fries, jalapeño slaw, the Cheeze-It crusted Lucille’s Mac N’ Cheese, sweet potato fries, as well as its special cheese-doused Dirty Fries with bacon, banana peppers, and chipotle BBQ.
In preparation of its expansion, the franchise has tagged Northwest Petroleum and Skylark Construction heads Frank and Fazil Malik as well as Dew Real Estate Holdings, LLC, CEO Noordin Jhaver, owner of over 50 Sonic locations.
The franchise’s first location in now open at 9630 Westheimer Rd Ste 1000.
In other news, an Israeli-based start-up company by the name of FlyTrex is expanding their drone-delivery program into Granbury, Texas. The company recently announced a partnership with Brinker International – a Dallas-based restaurant chain that owns Chili’s Bar and Grill, Maggiano’s Little Italy, Maggiano’s Italian Classics, and It’s Just Wings. For its Granbury debut, the company will initiate its services with It’s Just Wings – which is rather appropriate, all considering.