Big Chicken, the fried chicken chain backed by Shaquille O’Neal, is coming soon to Nashville’s suburb, Antioch. Franchise owner Jim Richards is behind the expansion of the 10 future restaurants planned for Tennessee, starting with the Century Farms neighborhood of Antioch located near 4065 Cane Ridge Pkwy.
An exact address and the opening timeline for the restaurant have not yet been determined, as Richards confirmed to What Now Nashville that the lease has not yet been made official. It is likely to open in 2024 or later.
Richards also owns Fiamma Pizza Company in Chattanooga and operates 13 locations of Five Guys restaurants across Tennessee under his own hospitality group, GPR Hospitality LLC. He is a Tennessee local and has attested that Big Chicken will definitely be a success in the market.
“We love Nashville, we currently operate the Five Guys restaurants in Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Hermitage, Mt Juliet, Madison and Hendersonville,” Richards told What Now Nashville.
“With four decades of restaurant industry experience under my belt, I know the importance of creating a ‘wow’ experience for customers,” Richards said about the expansion. “The food, service and overall experience at Big Chicken are truly unmatched and as someone who’s lived in the area for over 40 years, I’m confident we’ll become a quick hit for folks in Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga.”
Big Chicken has been planning to expand a slew of locations across the country, and even potentially in outer space, through a recent partnership with Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight company Blue Origin, according to a press release from this month.
“We’ve always said ‘Go BIG’ when asked about growth plans for Big Chicken,” Big Chicken CEO Josh Halpern said in the company press release. “Now, with Blue Origin, we’re going as BIG as we can by advancing the dream of running restaurants in space.”
The menu at Big Chicken is widely known for its uniquely flavored Nashville hot-style chicken sandwiches, including the Big and Sloppy sandwich, which comes with mac and cheese, crispy fried onions and roasted garlic bbq aioli, as well as the Shaq Attack sandwich, with pepper jack cheese, jalapeño slaw and spicy chipotle bbq sauce.
