A long-vacant corner in Fremont is about to smell like fried chicken again. Starbird Chicken plans to open a new restaurant at 3966 Fremont Blvd., taking over the space at Mowry Avenue and Fremont Boulevard once occupied by Boston Market, with the building set for a remodel that includes a new outdoor patio.
Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan confirmed the move in a July social media post, announcing that Starbird would fill the site and detailing plans for the remodel and patio addition. The corner had sat empty since Boston Market's exit, and the new location is expected to open in the coming months, though an exact date has not been set.
Once open, the Fremont shop will mark Starbird's 14th traditional brick-and-mortar storefront in Northern California, according to WhatNow, adding to a Bay Area lineup that already includes San Francisco, San Jose, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto and Campbell, plus venue outposts at Levi's Stadium and SFO Terminal 1. The Mercury News reports the Fremont restaurant will be the chain's ninth traditional Bay Area location, and that Starbird made its debut in Sunnyvale back in 2014.
A Menu Built Around Brined, Gluten-Free Chicken
Starbird's menu centers on tenders, wings, nuggets, sandwiches, salads and wraps, per the outlet's reporting. The chicken is marinated in a signature brine, hand-breaded in a gluten-free flour and spice mixture, and fried in rice bran oil, which founder Aaron Noveshen has said gives the chicken a lighter taste and better crunch. The Mercury News notes the chicken is fresh and antibiotic-free, and that the menu also leans into salads and wraps such as the green goddess cobb, Thai chicken, chicken Caesar and elote chop varieties.
The concept traces back to The Culinary Edge, the San Francisco-based food consultancy that developed Starbird's restaurant concept. According to Nation's Restaurant News, Starbird was launched in 2016 in Sunnyvale by restaurateur Aaron Noveshen alongside The Culinary Edge, which designed the chain around what it called “super-premium” fast-casual crispy chicken. The Mercury News reports that the consultancy began experimenting with chicken after concluding the market already had too many burger competitors.
Filling the Void Left by Boston Market's Collapse
The Fremont site became available after the national implosion of Boston Market, which shrank from more than 1,200 locations at its late-1990s peak to fewer than 30 nationwide by early 2024, according to Restaurant Business, amid mass evictions and unpaid debts. The chain's downfall included a federal court judgment of $11.9 million awarded to distributor US Foods in February 2024 over unpaid supply bills, part of more than 150 lawsuits filed against Boston Market by vendors and landlords, as detailed by Restaurant Dive. Boston Market's owner had multiple bankruptcy petitions dismissed in early 2024 as the financial unraveling continued.
Starbird's growth has continued beyond the Bay Area even as it fills in local gaps like Fremont. The chain currently operates two stadium stands, an airport location at SFO, and expanded into Colorado with outlets in Denver and Castle Rock, growing its total system footprint to 19 locations by 2026.
Chicken Chains Are Booming Nationally
The Fremont opening arrives amid a broader industry shift toward fast-casual chicken. U.S. fast-food chicken restaurant revenue reached an estimated $63.7 billion in 2025, expanding at an annualized rate of 5.6% between 2020 and 2025, per IBISWorld data. Sales for the top 500 U.S. chicken restaurant chains jumped nearly 15% in 2024, compared to just 3% overall growth across the broader restaurant industry, according to Technomic data reported by Nation's Restaurant News.
Fremont has become something of a hotbed for that trend. Starbird's move follows a run of fast-casual openings in the city, including Pizza My Heart's arrival at the Fremont Hub, covered in Hoodline's story on free slices and Santa Cruz vibes, and Buffalo Wild Wings GO's debut in a Fremont strip mall in April.
City leaders have also made filling vacant commercial real estate a broader priority. Fremont's City Council approved rezoning the long-empty 11-acre Fry's Electronics site on Osgood Road for industrial use in June, a move Hoodline covered in its report on the site's transformation into an industrial powerhouse. Between that rezoning and the string of new restaurant openings, Fremont officials appear eager to turn dormant storefronts back into active businesses, with the Starbird project offering the latest example along the Mowry Avenue and Fremont Boulevard corridor.
