Bringing a jolt of Shaquille O’Neal-inspired BIG Fun that matches the energy and excitement of Chattanooga, Big Chicken is set to open in high-profile downtown digs at Broad and 4th Streets (410 Broad St.).
The new location pairs perfectly with the liveliness of the neighborhood, and it is arriving with a BIG opening celebration. On Monday, April 15, the first 34 fans in line will have the chance to score a BIG deal: free Big Chicken food and drinks for a year, limited to $10 a week.
The downtown opening is the second in the Greater Chattanooga area this year. Chattanooga’s own, Jim Richards, an accomplished restaurateur and executive within the quick-service industry, along with his successful partners, Brion Voges, Andrew Gardner, and Bruce Bowman, signed a 10-unit franchise agreement with Big Chicken for the Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Nashville markets. They will soon make a BIG entry into Nashville after recently signing their first lease in the area.
“Our roots run deep in Chattanooga. My business partners, Brian and Andrew, grew up here, and my family and I have served the community through our restaurants for nearly two decades. That’s why it was so important to us to launch Big Chicken here, where I know people will love our southern-inspired flavors and hospitality,” says Richards, who currently oversees the operations of 13 Five Guys restaurants in Tennessee and Georgia as well as Fiamma Pizza Co. “We opened BIG in Hixson and every day since excitement has been building in the area for this new location.”
Remarkably, in less than three years of franchising the brand, Big Chicken has a BIG list of 350 locations in development nationwide and more than 30 locations open in traditional and non-traditional restaurant settings. Big Chicken fuses O’Neal’s home-cooked childhood favorites with today’s trending flavors. Offerings at the Chattanooga location will include The Original Big Chicken sandwich (Shaq Sauce and pickles), Uncle Jerome’s Nashville Hot (Nashville Hot Chicken, lettuce, mayo and pickles), and The Ultimate (mac & cheese, crispy fried onions and roasted garlic BBQ aioli), along with the crispy crinkle cut fries and delicious ice cream milkshakes.
“Jim and I have been imagining this opening for months,” says Josh Halpern, CEO of Big Chicken. “We toured the location together, right in the heart of the city. I love that this is the group to make Shaquille’s vision of Big Flavor and Big Fun a pillar in Downtown Chattanooga and beyond.”
