Despite the popularity of fried chicken chains, such as Chick-fil-A and Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, seven-year-old chain Big Chicken is facing challenges as it tries to grow.
Basketball Hall of Fame superstar Shaquille O’Neal’s Big Chicken fast-food dining chain has struggled to reach its goal of over 200 locations as it continues closing restaurants with a total of 41 units currently listed as open on its website.
Big Chicken, which launched in 2018, has closed its two Tennessee locations in Chattanooga and Hixson, which opened in 2024, Local 3 News reported on July 27. The chain no longer has a location in Tennessee, according to its website.
Big Chicken closes locations
The Las Vegas-based restaurant chain has also closed five locations in Texas in 2026, including the first one that it opened in the Lone Star State in June 2023, located at 9630 Westheimer Road in Houston, which it closed in February 2026, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Big Chicken closed another Houston area location in February at 3415 FM 762 Road in Richmond, which also opened in 2023. The chain also shuttered its 107 Yale Street location a few months later, which signaled the chain’s exit from the Houston area.
More Texas locations shuttered
The chicken chain also closed its Lubbock, Texas, location, as well as its Fort Worth, Texas, location at 9771 North Freeway, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The restaurant location is being advertised for lease on LoopNet.
The closures mark a slowdown in the company’s expansion strategy. Big Chicken was not immediately available for comment.
Big Chicken’s last remaining Texas location is at Moody Center in Austin, Texas, which is located on the Main Concourse, near Sections 102 and 103, according to its website.
Chicken chain opened in 2018
O’Neal opened his first Big Chicken restaurant location in Las Vegas in October 2018, followed by its first restaurant on a cruise ship located on Carnival Radiance, which opened in November 2018. The company planned to open over 200 U.S. locations, according to a press release in February 2023.
Big Chicken has 32 locations in 17 states, with three more in Honduras, one in Canada, and one in the U.K., according to its website. The chain also has locations on four Carnival cruise ships: Mardi Gras, Carnival Radiance, Carnival Celebration, and Carnival Jubilee.
Where have locations closed?
- Chattanooga, Tenn., July 2026.
- Hixson, Tenn., July 2026. Source: Local 3 News.
- 9630 Westheimer Road in Houston, February 2026.
- 3415 FM 762 Road, Richmond, Texas February 2026.
- 107 Yale Street, Houston, 2026. Source: Houston Chronicle.
- Lubbock, Texas, 2026.
- 9749 North Freeway, Fort Worth, Texas, 2026. Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The menu at Big Chicken features a variety of fried or grilled chicken sandwiches, including a Philly-style chicken sandwich, The Philly Fadeaway. The chain also serves smaller chicken Shaq Snacks, served on garlic toast.
The restaurant offers chicken tenders, chicken salads, crinkle-cut fries, dirty fries, onion rings, cheese curds, coleslaw and mac & cheese.
Fried chicken most popular subsector
Fried chicken dining chains were the most popular subsector of the fast-food industry in 2025, as traffic to chicken concepts increased by 3% for the year ending September 2025, while all concepts dropped 1% compared to the previous year, according to market research firm Circana.
The popularity of chicken chains can be traced to the variety of chicken options offered at restaurants, such as chicken pieces, chicken fingers, or chicken sandwiches, and how consumers enjoy their choices, an expert says.
“This is due to the experiences the brands are creating as well as the variety of chicken and how you can enjoy it,” industry expert Reilly Newman of Motif Brands told The Food Institute. “This comes to no surprise, as the experience economy has been taking root across the globe.
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