Will Tacoma shopping center add Shaq’s Big Chicken restaurant? Here’s what we found
Story has been updated Sept. 14 with additional details.
A national chicken restaurant chain has plans for a new Tacoma site, according to a recent permit filing with the city and a shopping center property map posted online by the center’s owner.
And no, it’s not Super Chix or Chick-fil-A.
Big Chicken is listed as the project for a new permit filed with the City of Tacoma for a new restaurant at Westgate North Shopping Center.
The chain is expanding in Washington state, after launching with a presence at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, followed by a restaurant in Renton and its newest site in Mukilteo.
The chain was founded in 2018 by basketball Hall of Fame star Shaquille O’Neal along with JRS Hospitality and Authentic Brands Group.
In an update provided to The News Tribune on Thursday, Tony Puckett is the franchise owner of the Tacoma site, his first in the area, according to Big Chicken media representative Emily Cashen.
“Tony has been in the restaurant industry for his entire adult life, starting as a manager at The Cheesecake Factory and moving into business ownership with Subway nearly 17 years ago,” she told The News Tribune via email. “He’s an active owner and can often be found in and out of his restaurants on a daily basis.”
The Tacoma venue is included in an online property capsule map, part of a marketing packet generated by the shopping center’s owner EDENS. It shows Big Chicken near the corner of North 26th and North Pearl streets in a spot next to The Habit Burger Grill.
Representatives for EDENS did not respond to requests for comment about the project, which is in its preliminary permit stage.
EDENS purchased the shopping center in March 2022 as part of a massive sweep of shopping center acquisitions. EDENS is a national retail real estate owner, operator and developer based in Washington, D.C.
According to the permit filing from Sept. 8, work could start as soon as next month on the site.
The menu is divided into main dishes (chicken sandwiches), sides (fries, macaroni & cheese, jalapeno slaw) and a dessert line.
Menu items from the Renton site, for example, show sandwiches such as the “Big & Sloppy,” featuring not just chicken between the buns but macaroni and cheese, fried onions and roasted garlic barbecue aioli. “Uncle Jerome’s Nashville Hot” features Nashville hot chicken, lettuce, mayonnaise and pickles. It’s named after O’Neal’s uncle.
“The pickles and lettuce protect you against the heat. The same way uncle Jerome has always protected me,” O’Neal said in a promotional video.
Desserts include shakes, ice cream sandwiches and the “Big Cookie.”
“It’s literally the circumference of the NBA basketball. It’s like a dozen cookies made into a mega cookie served on a pizza board,” O’Neal says in its video.
The plans are the latest in a recent push to bring new chicken franchises to the Tacoma area.
In South Tacoma, area Super Chix franchise owners Mohammad and Elina Khadar are planning their first Tacoma Super Chix site near the Tacoma Mall at 4201 S. Steele St., Suite C, Tacoma — mere blocks from Chick-fil-A at 3902 S. Steele St.
They opened their first Washington state Super Chix site in the Frederickson area in August. The couple plans to develop at least 35 new sites in Washington/Oregon.
Expect Big Chicken also to continue growing in the area and beyond. According to its map of franchise opportunities on its website, Washington is one of 15 states where development agreements have been signed and areas are still available, while Idaho, Utah, Arizona and Florida are “sold out.” Oregon, meanwhile, is among states “open to development.”
This story was originally published September 13, 2023 at 4:19 PM.
