Shaq’s chicken chain was coming to Boise. 3 years later — technical fowl?
Call it a delay of game. Or technical fowl?
However you want to blow the whistle, a chicken chain founded by NBA Hall of Fame basketball player Shaquille O’Neal has halted plans to expand to the Treasure Valley — at least for now — with no apparent future timeline.
Announcing “BIG things on the horizon” for Idaho, Big Chicken issued a here-we-come press release in 2022. Since then, zero restaurants have materialized. (Causing some of us to wallow in atrocious poultry puns. Stop reading now. You were warned.)
The egg-on-the-face situation comes despite a development agreement signed with franchisees that included a former Eagle resident who had flown the coop to Arizona. The hope, he told the Statesman, was to get the first Big Chicken restaurant open in Idaho by the end of 2023 — maybe on Eagle Road or elsewhere in Meridian. Boise, Nampa, Twin Falls and beyond were all expansion possibilities, too. In other words, Idahoans would be feasting on Shaq Attack and Sir Charles sandwiches — that one named after Shaq’s “Inside the NBA” buddy Charles Barkley — before we knew it.
But the plan never hatched.
Instead, Shaq’s fast-casual chain shot an air ball.
Not that Big Chicken has decided to roost outside our state permanently.
“We are so grateful for the community’s enthusiasm around Big Chicken landing in Idaho,” explained Sam Stanovich, senior vice president of development and alliances. “While our franchise partner’s plans are currently on pause for personal reasons, we are still fired up about the idea of bringing our BIG flavor and fun-loving spirit to the Gem State.
“Idaho has always felt like a natural fit for Big Chicken,” Stanovich continued in a statement provided last week, “full of heart, hometown pride and people who know good food when they taste it. We are taking the time to make sure everything is lined up just right, and when the time comes, we will be ready to go BIG. Until then, we truly appreciate all your patience and support — it means the world to us and our team.”
Let’s goooooo! Nothing like an inspirational halftime speech to get us fired up, right?
Either way, Big Chicken’s unforeseen absence is nothing for Idahoans to get their feathers ruffled about. Stuff happens. No harm, no fowl.
(Also, Raising Cane’s is on the way to Meridian. That helps ease some of the chicken-finger tremors.)
That said, Big Chicken’s Sir Charles sandwich does sound like a backboard shatterer — a chicken sammy layered with macaroni and cheese, bacon and crispy fried onions, plus chipotle barbecue and Big Chicken sauce. The Shaq Attack chicken sandwich sounds intriguing, too: pepper jack cheese, jalapeño slaw and chipotle barbecue sauce.
Also, Shaq is cool.
So feel free to bounce a few more expansion free throws off the rim, Big Chicken. (Shaq was a career 52.7% shooter from behind the stripe.) If you finally swish one, fast-food junkies will still be here, waving their pom-poms in Idaho.