---
title: "Shaquille O’Neal Owned Big Chicken Opens in Houston"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/7e3db8f0-7ac5-468a-8219-861f952d215a
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/news/20230406_shaquille_oneal_owned_big_chicken_opens_in_houston.html
category: "Chicken"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Chicken"
topics: ["Development & multi-unit"]
published: 2023-04-06T12:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-10-31T17:47:38.307Z
image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1504674900247-0877df9cc836?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop
---

# Shaquille O’Neal Owned Big Chicken Opens in Houston

**TL;DR:** Big Chicken, founded by Shaquille O'Neal, is opening a new location in Houston on April 8. The Houston store is part of a deal with co-owners Fazil Malik, Frank Malik, and Noordin Jhaver.

*originally published in Franchising.com on 2023-04-06. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/news/20230406_shaquille_oneal_owned_big_chicken_opens_in_houston.html).*

## Story

Founded by Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, Big Chicken's newest location is set to open in Houston on April 8 at 9660 Westheimer Road.

“Since the moment we signed the agreement with Big Chicken, we couldn’t wait to open our first restaurant,” said Fazil Malik, co-owner of the new restaurant alongside Frank Malik and Noordin Jhaver. “We look forward to introducing folks across the state to Shaquille’s home-cooked favorites.”

The Houston store is part of a deal with the Maliks and Jhaver. The three businessmen all have extensive backgrounds in business ownership, both individually and as a trio, owning a number of restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations in Texas. With 30 years as business partners, the Maliks and Jhaver are more than ready to get the restaurant open and start satisfying Houston’s hunger.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Fazil, Frank and Noordin,” said Josh Halpern, CEO of Big Chicken. “We knew from the get-go that these three were going to be all-star owners, and the best people to expand Big Chicken into Texas. We look forward to supporting them in their growth as they expand in major cities across the state.”

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- unit expansion (topic)
- restaurant opening (topic)
- houston (location)
- franchise partnership (topic)
- Big Chicken (company)
- Shaquille O'Neal (person)
- Josh Halpern (person)

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Originally reported by Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/news/20230406_shaquille_oneal_owned_big_chicken_opens_in_houston.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/7e3db8f0-7ac5-468a-8219-861f952d215a).