Chicken and biscuits are coming to Route 35. Bojangles will swing open the doors of its new Neptune restaurant at 276 Route 35 at 6 a.m. Thursday, marking the Cajun-fried-chicken chain's fourth New Jersey location.
The Neptune shop, occupying a 2,895-square-foot space at Market Place at Neptune, is set to mark its opening with events, according to NJBIZ. Doors open to the general public at 6 a.m., followed by a lunch from noon to 3 p.m. reserved for area police officers, firefighters, EMTs and medics.
At 2 p.m., the chain will hold what it's calling a biscuit-cutting ceremony with local officials and brand representatives on hand. Bojangles said the first 50 guests through the door will be eligible for giveaways, including gift cards and a year's worth of free breakfast.
A Former Coca-Cola Warehouse Turned Shopping Hub
The Neptune location sits inside Market Place at Neptune, a shopping center that the property formerly housed as a Coca-Cola bottler's warehouse before its transformation, the outlet reported. The plaza's tenant lineup also includes Aldi, QuickChek and Paris Baguette, giving the new Bojangles plenty of built-in foot traffic from day one.
Bojangles isn't new to the Garden State, but its footprint here is still young. The North Carolina-based chain opened its first New Jersey restaurant in Piscataway in April 2025, followed by a Vineland location in March 2026 and a Marlboro restaurant — built on the site of a former Burger King on Route 9 — on June 30, 2026, according to the same report and a separate account from app.com.
Big Expansion Plans, Few Confirmed Addresses
Neptune's opening is part of a much larger push. Bojangles plans to add 35 locations across New Jersey as part of an East Coast expansion effort the chain launched in 2025, per the outlet's reporting. A previous Bojangles outpost in Newark closed years ago, according to nj.com's past reporting as cited by the publication, underscoring that the brand's New Jersey history hasn't been entirely smooth.
ADS Restaurant Group, the franchise group behind the Neptune restaurant, plans to open additional Bojangles locations in New Jersey in 2027. A spokesperson for the group declined to provide details, saying the sites remain in the leasing phase and have not moved into development, which means plans are still subject to change. Jersey Digs has previously reported that ADS Restaurant Group had committed to opening 10 additional Bojangles restaurants in Central Jersey, according to Jersey Digs.
Back in February 2025, when the Neptune site was first announced, app.com reported the restaurant would include a drive-thru and sit at the new Market Place at Neptune shopping center just off the Asbury Circle — framing it at the time as Bojangles' entry into the Monmouth County market, according to app.com's earlier coverage. A separate 2025 report from nj.com noted that Bojangles operated more than 800 locations across 20 states at that time; the chain's footprint has since grown to nearly 900 nationwide locations as of the Neptune opening.
What Bojangles Brings to the Jersey Shore
Founded in 1977, the North Carolina-based brand built its name on Cajun-seasoned fried chicken, buttermilk biscuits, sandwiches, salads, sides and desserts. For Neptune residents, Thursday's opening means a new breakfast and lunch option wedged between the Jersey Shore's familiar strip-mall staples — with a shot at free breakfast for a year if you're one of the first 50 through the door.
