The Opening
Big Chicken, the fast-casual chicken concept co-founded by Shaquille O'Neal, opened its first standalone Maryland restaurant on August 8, 2026, at Waugh Chapel Towne Centre in Gambrills — a suburban Baltimore market the brand has been eyeing since its arena-based foothold at CFG Bank Arena proved out local demand. The unit, located at 1407 South Main Chapel Way, operates Sunday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday through Saturday until 11 p.m.
The opening grand-day promotion offered the first 100 guests three free tenders and four signature dipping sauces — a detail the brand tied to O'Neal's iconic No. 34 — with the same bundle available for $5.00 to guests who followed. The stunt format is a familiar franchise playbook move, but it signals how Big Chicken is trying to convert arena trial into repeat suburban diners, a conversion challenge any multi-channel fast-casual expansion brand will recognize.
The Franchisee Profile
Franchisee Pratik Patel brings more than 15 years of hospitality experience to the unit, with an existing portfolio of quick-service locations across Howard and Anne Arundel counties. That operational depth matters: Big Chicken's menu — stacked sandwiches like The Shaq Attack and The Ultimate (mac and cheese, crispy onion rings), hand-spun milkshakes, and Shaq Snacks (tenders on garlic toast) — requires kitchen teams comfortable with build-to-order complexity at fast-casual throughput speeds.
"Gambrills is a special place, and it's the right fit to bring something new that matches its energy," Patel said. Josh Halpern, CEO of Big Chicken, framed the Gambrills unit as a template for disciplined market entry. "The right place, the right partner and a whole lot of BIG Flavor," Halpern said — shorthand for a franchising thesis that prioritizes operators with existing local infrastructure over pure greenfield bets.
Brand Momentum
The Gambrills unit arrives alongside a new limited-time sauce initiative the brand calls "Big Dip Energy," a rotating monthly dip program launching with a Root Beer BBQ flavor. For operators evaluating the chicken sandwich segment, limited-time sauce programs have become a low-cost mechanism to drive social engagement and repeat visits without changing core menu architecture — a tactic that translates across franchise systems regardless of brand scale.
Big Chicken now has more than 40 locations open with dozens more in development across North America, operating across traditional storefronts, arenas, airports, and cruise ships. The Gambrills opening extends that footprint into the broader DMV corridor, a densely populated, dining-forward region where competition for suburban lunch and dinner occasions is intense. Founded in 2018 and backed by Craveworthy Brands, JRS Hospitality, and Authentic Brands Group, the concept has been recognized by Fast Casual magazine as a Top Mover & Shaker — a distinction that reflects both unit growth velocity and the brand's ability to generate consumer awareness through its celebrity co-founder. For multi-unit franchisee operators assessing emerging chicken concepts, Big Chicken's hybrid venue strategy — arena and airport units seeding brand recognition before standalone openings — offers a replicable demand-validation model worth watching.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
