Boise Is About To Become Ground Zero For Celebrity Chicken War
In a city full of pizza places and breweries, Boise is about to get an influx of chicken. Fast-food chicken restaurants are the hottest trend in the country, and soon Boise will have more than its fair share.
The grand opening of Boise's first Chic-Fil-A in 2014 resembled the Beatles coming to America for the first time, with a parking lot full of people camping out overnight for a taste. It will be interesting to see if the same happens for major chicken chains like Raising Cane's, expected in 2024, or California favorite Burnin' Mouth. They will bring their spicy chicken to the Village at Meridian this summer. Both of those openings, Chic-Fil-A, Popeye's, and KFC, will flood the market with poultry. But the most interesting new entries into the Boise chicken war will be the two backed by celebrities.
Retired NBA basketball star and current TNT analyst Shaquille O'Neal is bringing his "Big Chicken" to Boise and is planning to be open sometime next year. Meanwhile, Hip Hop megastar Drake is planning to open a "Dave's Hot Chicken" in Meridian in November. Drake owns nearly 50% of Dave's Hot Chicken, which will open in the former Kneader's Bakery on Eagle Road. No location has been announced yet for Shaq's Big Chicken.
Boise will become ground zero for the Shaq versus Drake chicken war. This is only the third city in America that will have both options. The others are Glendale, California, and the tourist-heavy part of the Las Vegas strip.
Only time will tell if the Treasure Valley is big enough for all of this chicken and to see who will win a very spicy celebrity chicken war.
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