Big Chicken, a fast-food chicken restaurant chain started five years ago by basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal, will expand into Tennessee this fall with new restaurants in Hixson and downtown Chattanooga.
Chattanooga restaurateur Jim Richards plans to open the two new Big Chicken restaurants in November as the first of four Big Chicken sites he is planning for the Chattanooga market. Richards, a former sales vice president for the Krystal Co. who now operates the Chattanooga-area Five Guys and Fiamma Pizza Co. restaurants, said he is confident the Big Chicken concept will prove successful across Tennessee. He is developing plans to eventually open 10 or more Big Chicken locations in the franchise territories he acquired last year in the Chattanooga, Nashville and Knoxville markets.
"The 'wow' factor behind Big Chicken is its big food, big flavor and big fun, and we're confident that both the Chattanooga and Hixson locations will quickly become the go-to spot for lunch and dinner," Richards said in an announcement of his latest restaurant venture.
Richards has leased the former Steak 'n Shake restaurant at 5118 Hixson Pike, which closed last December, and the former All Books location at 410 Broad St. near the downtown riverfront that shut down earlier in 2022. Each of the sites is near one of the Five Guys restaurants Richards also operates.
"We've started work in Hixson, and we're in permitting for the former All Goods bookstore and hope to get started on construction there in the next couple of weeks," Richards said in a telephone interview Thursday. "We know from our experience these are good locations, and I hope to identify a couple of other sites in the market soon for other Big Chicken locations."
Big Chicken, which first opened in Las Vegas in 2018, has locations in a half dozen major markets and has more than 250 locations under development. Company CEO Josh Halpern said he "is looking forward to a big entrance in Tennessee with these leases" with the experience of Richards, who has worked in the restaurant industry for the past four decades with a number of different brands.
"The excitement that Jim brings to his businesses couldn't be any bigger and is exactly what we look for in our franchise owners," Halpern said in a statement Thursday about the new Chattanooga sites. "He and his team know exactly what Chattanooga-area residents need and are more than capable of meeting their demand for high-quality ingredients and trending flavors."
Each of the new restaurants will include seating for 60 to 70 patrons and have a staff of about 25 employees at each of the 3,000-square-foot locations, Richards said.
Richards and partner Brion Voges are owners of GPR Hospitality LLC and are working with associates Andrew Gardner, Bruce Bowman and Rodney Hutson on the new Big Chicken locations in Chattanooga and Hixson.
Big Chicken features O'Neal's home-cooked childhood favorites with today's trending flavors, Halpern said. The restaurant menu items range from crispy chicken sandwiches and tenders to Cheez-It crusted mac n' cheese and hand-crafted ice cream shakes. Each of the menu items tell a story about the life and personality of Shaquille O'Neal, the 7-foot, 1-inch basketball star known as the "Shaq" who played for 19 years in the NBA and is now a TV sports analyst.
"Like Shaq himself, Big Chicken is all about big food and big fun," Richards said. "It's a great chef-driven brand that's got great taste and flavor with every meal being prepared fresh and with lots of variety."
Big Chicken is backed by JRS Hospitality and the Authentic Brands Group, along with O'Neal.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.