Shaquille O’Neal’s fast-casual restaurant will likely be coming to Massachusetts

Eating places

The basketball star’s first restaurant within the state will arrive in 2024.

A series of fast-casual eating places from NBA legend and former Celtics participant Shaquille O’Neal will likely be increasing to Massachusetts.

Large Rooster, O’Neal’s fried hen sandwich idea specializing in up to date variations of the star’s “home-cooked childhood favorites” will open twelve new places throughout Massachusetts. The spots will likely be in areas comparable to Boston, Metro West, Cape Cod, and within the North Shore. Final October, Boston.com reported that one in all these eateries will likely be within the Northshore Mall in Peabody, coming in 2024. The opening dates of the opposite eating places are nonetheless unconfirmed, a spokesperson mentioned. Two firms within the hospitality sector, Restaurant Manufacturers Worldwide and JBMM Hospitality LLC, will individually be bringing the franchise to Massachusetts.

“[Big Chicken] need[s] to develop this model and make it nationwide,” mentioned Barry Lattuca, managing member of JBMM Hospitality LLC. He added, “I believe that Massachusetts is an excellent marketplace for this product. Should you take a look at manufacturers like Elevating Cane’s and Chick-fil-A, they do fairly a little bit of enterprise. We predict there’s an area for us, as effectively.”

The eating places primarily serve fried hen sandwiches, with eclectic spins. One in every of these is the Shaq Assault, which comes with pepper jack cheese, jalapeño slaw, and spicy chipotle BBQ sauce. The Authentic Large Rooster comes with a particular “Shaq sauce” and pickles. In the meantime, sides like candy potato waffle fries and Lucille’s Mac n’ Cheese are additionally supplied. Shakes are available a couple of flavors, just like the El Padrino Negro, which options chocolate chips and peanut butter, and ice cream sandwiches additionally make an look.

Large Rooster was launched in Las Vegas in 2018. There are 12 conventional eating places and 300 places in improvement throughout the nation, in states comparable to Louisiana, Florida, Michigan, and Arkansas. The corporate has plans to develop abroad, as effectively, the spokesperson mentioned.

Lattuca added that he believes O’Neal has been actively related to the eating places, one thing that not all celebrities do after they begin companies.

“It appears to me that [O’Neal] could be very concerned,” Lattuca mentioned. “He’s not simply taking a again seat and watching issues occur. … He goes to the eating places. He needs to get to know the franchisees. He needs to know all the things in regards to the enterprise and do what he can to make it a hit.”