Shaquille O’Neal had to shut down grand opening of Big Chicken restaurant due to massive crowd

NBA legend-turned-TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal’s chicken restaurant franchise “Big Chicken” has been a massive success since it was launched in 2018.

The franchise recently announced plans to open 150 new locations across the U.S. That includes the recent grand opening of Big Chicken in Houston, Texas. The event reportedly had such a big turnout that the fire marshal had to be called to shut it down.

The new restaurant, located at 9630 Westheimer Road, opened on Saturday with eager customers flocking to the surrounding area to wait in line. However, the line quickly turned into a large mass of people due to O’Neal in attendance and the promise of free food.

Big Chicken features a unique menu based on O’Neal’s favorite childhood foods that his mother used to make him. These include dishes like chicken tenders, popcorn chicken, chicken sandwiches and ice cream shakes. Many of the foods on the menu also have personalized names.

“This is my creation — excuse me, this is my mama’s creation,” O’Neal told The Houston Press. “Coming where we come from, me and this little guy (O’Neal’s brother) had to eat chicken a lot. Chicken sandwiches, chicken tacos, chicken everything. When the opportunity came to create this franchise, we had a meeting and sold over 250."

He continued:

“This is the first to open in Houston. I just wanted people to come out, so I’m paying for everything today. Try it. If you like it, cool. If you don’t, let me know why because we want to make this one of the best restaurants out here.”

Houston mayor Sylvester Turner was also in attendance and helped O’Neal cut the red ribbon to mark the grand opening. O’Neal then took the opportunity to meet with fans, sign autographs and take photos.

Another celebrity has opened a restaurant in Houston!

Shaquille O'Neal attended the official grand opening of his Big Chicken restaurant on Westheimer this afternoon. The restaurant serves everything from chicken sandwiches, tenders, and popcorn chicken.
@SHAQ #khou11 #HouNews https://t.co/6tPaujV9rX

🎉 “Congratulations and welcome to Houston,@SHAQ ! 🍗Houston is buzzing with excitement as you bring your legendary Big Chicken restaurant to our vibrant city! #bbqchickenalert🔥 #BigChicken #TasteLikeChampions https://t.co/pdS5g51S7O

Shaquille O’Neal thrilled on big turnout at grand opening of Big Chicken in Houston

NBA legend-turned-TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal at a Big Chicken restaurant

Shaquille O’Neal also made sure to thank fans in attendance for coming out to support the grand opening of Houston’s first Big Chicken restaurant.

The big man said that he would have been grateful no matter how many people showed up. However, he was especially grateful to see so many Houstonians in attendance:

“I’ve been living here for 30 years. I just want to thank the people of Houston for coming out,” O’Neal said. “I love the turnout, but if it was ten people or one hundred people, I’m going to be thankful.”

Despite the free food and opportunity to see O’Neal in person, there were still some who left in disappointment, as they weren’t able to meet the big man before he had to leave.

Some of them took to social media to express their frustrations with the ordeal, including one who said that he waited more than four hours to meet O’Neal but to no avail.

@SHAQ welcome to Houston Shaq! We waited more than 4hrs at big chicken restaurant with hope to have picture taken with you. You left hundreds of people stranded & just sneaked out restaurants @3:30pm without saying a word to anyone. What a joke, 4hr for nothing! Fans very upset! https://t.co/4cr77pu9RR

However, the event reportedly became so out of control that the fire marshal had to shut down the restaurant.

O’Neal then transitioned outside the building to continue meeting fans before leaving. So all things considered, most would agree that it’s understandable that the big man wasn’t able to meet everyone in attendance.