Shaquille O'Neal's Big Chicken has quietly tapped out of Tacoma, with its Westgate North shopping center outpost now permanently closed after a brief run. The restaurant, which opened in 2024, has gone dark at 2601 N. Pearl St., leaving a sudden gap in a city where quick-service chicken joints seem to multiply by the month. Neighbors and regulars noticed the doors locked and lights off earlier this week.
According to The News Tribune, the Tacoma location is listed as permanently closed and staff could not be reached for comment. The paper's business reporter Minnie Stephenson detailed the shutdown in a story published January 31, 2026.
What Big Chicken Brought To Tacoma
Big Chicken, the fast-casual chain co-founded by O'Neal, launched in 2018 and built its menu around fried-chicken sandwiches, mac 'n' cheese and hand-crafted milkshakes, according to the company's locations page. The chain's own website still shows a Tacoma listing at 2601 N. Pearl St., suggesting corporate has not yet caught up with the closure. The entry remains live on Big Chicken's Tacoma page.
Chicken Wars In Tacoma’s North End
Tacoma's fast-casual chicken scene is crowded, and that competition has repeatedly surfaced in coverage of restaurant openings and closings. The News Tribune noted nearby rivals that include Dave's Hot Chicken, Wingstop, Super Chix and Jollibee.
Online Menus Still Say "Open For Business"
Even with the dining room reportedly closed, major delivery and directory platforms are lagging behind reality. The Tacoma menu still appears active on apps like Postmates and Uber Eats, and map entries continue to show the Westgate address. That kind of mismatch, where the storefront is shuttered but the virtual version lives on, is common when closures happen quickly.
Word of the shutdown spread fast on neighborhood forums and in a local Reddit thread, where posters pointed to weak drive-by visibility and limited parking as likely drags on the business. Franchisee Tony Puckett, named as the Tacoma owner in early coverage of the deal, had previously indicated plans for additional South Sound locations, but neither Puckett nor Big Chicken's corporate team has publicly commented on the closure. Coverage of the original franchise announcement was reported by Connect CRE.
