Four months after joining the Craveworthy Brands portfolio, the fast-casual Big Chicken concept on Tuesday launched a complete menu refresh.
The concept, which was founded by basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal in 2018, is known for chicken sandwiches and tenders, as well as mac and cheese, shakes and wings. The multi-concept Craveworthy Brands became a managing partner and investor in the 47-unit chain in March.
Jax Sperling, Craveworthy’s vice president of culinary and supply chain, said the new partnership called for an all-new menu, with new categories, and bigger, bolder flavors that brought Big Chicken “back to its essence,” she said.
The refresh brings in some new ingredients, like corn elote, onion rings, and fried cheese curds, which are available as sides, and also make an appearance on some of the sandwiches and salads.
There’s a new menu category: Shaq Snacks, which include five smaller sandwiches featuring a chicken tender tucked into a split-top bun with various toppings. (Like a lobster roll, but with a chicken tender.)
The Smoke Show features a tender topped with ancho sauce, coleslaw, onion rings and pepper jack cheese, for example, and the El Shaquito tops a tender with Cholula sauce, elote and white American cheese.
The El Shaquito. | Photo courtesy of Big Chicken.
“For Shaq, it’s a snack, but for some of us, it’s a meal,” said Sperling.
The Shaq Snacks are also positioned at an attractive price point. At the two corporate units, the sandwiches are $6.99 (prices may vary at the 45 franchised units).
The sandwich line, meanwhile, has been expanded.
“My goal was to make Shaq’s hands look small,” said Sperling. “I’m not sure if I got that far, but they are very large sandwiches.”
The line includes some nostalgic flavors, but made “funner. And in this case, it’s a word,” she said.
The Pit Boss, for example, includes fried chicken topped with barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese, fried cheese curds, pickles and onion rings.
The Pit Boss. | Photo courtesy of Big Chicken.
Also new is the Philly Fadeaway, which is Big Chicken’s variation on a Philly Cheesesteak. In this case, diced grilled chicken is sauteed with caramelized onions, peppers, mushrooms and topped with white American cheese (not Cheez Whiz), and served on a traditionally Philly-style Amoroso roll.
Philly Fadeaway. | Photo courtesy of Big Chicken.
Big Chicken also added chicken tender platters, served with crinkle-cut fries, coleslaw and Texas toast, with a three-piece ($13.49 with a drink) or five-piece ($16.49 with drink) plate options.
When asked about the similarity with Raising Cane’s tender/slaw/toast offering, Sperling said the idea was cross-utilizing products that were already in house.
And, she noted, “A lot of people do platters like that. We had all the ingredients, so it made sense.”
Fundamentally, the menu refresh is designed to drive trial and boost traffic.
Sperling joined Craveworthy about five months ago, and this is the first brand revamp that she has done within the portfolio.
Craveworthy is also parent to about 19 other brands, including Genghis Grill, Wing It On, Dirty Dough and Fresh Brothers Pizza.
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