Toronto’s fried chicken scene is about to get a very big new player. Shaquille O’Neal, the seven-foot NBA Hall of Famer, is bringing his fast-casual chain Big Chicken to the city for the first time, with the first location set to open Monday, Nov. 16.
Rather than plant its flag downtown at Yonge and Dundas, as so many American chains have done before it, Big Chicken is making its Toronto debut in Etobicoke. The new restaurant is at 150 Silver Reign Dr., just steps from Woodbine Casino.
Founded in 2018, Big Chicken made its Canadian debut in November 2025 with an arena location inside Hamilton’s TD Coliseum. The Etobicoke restaurant is its first standalone location in Canada and its first to open within Toronto city limits.
As you’d expect from a restaurant co-founded by Shaq, nobody’s counting calories here. The menu is built around oversized crispy chicken sandwiches, tenders, crinkle-cut fries, mac and cheese and thick milkshakes.
The Original comes stacked with pickles and signature BC sauce, while the Shaq Attack gets a Memphis barbecue sauce and coleslaw treatment. Then there’s The Ultimate, which takes things even further, piling mac and cheese and onion rings onto the chicken. Canadian diners also get an exclusive: Shaq’s Spicy Maple Crunch, a sweet-and-spicy take featuring hot maple honey.
Big Chicken’s suburban debut has already got Toronto foodies talking online. Some are wondering whether the city really needs another fried chicken joint, while others are questioning the choice of a Highway 401 and Islington-area location over a more central downtown address. Still, plenty of fans seem ready to line up for a taste, wherever Shaq decides to set up shop.
Big Chicken opens at 150 Silver Reign Dr. on Monday, Nov. 16.