Celebrity-Endorsed Chicken Restaurants Are Flocking to Phoenix

Celebrity endorsements come in waves. Big-name-backed wine was popular — looking at you Snoop Dogg and Lisa Vanderpump — and then actor-approved tequila hit the shelves, thanks to Kendall Jenner and Dwayne Johnson. But the newest era of famous foods has hit Phoenix and this time, it's chicken.

Now, don't get us wrong, chicken restaurants have been flooding into the city long before celebrities got in on the act. Local restaurant celeb Sam Fox brought us Dough Bird and Fly Bye, Valley original Larry "LoLo" White continues to expand his Monroe's Hot Chicken empire, and Tennessee favorite Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken is popping up with new locations throughout the Valley.

But now, some A-Listers have joined the trend. Here are the three latest celebrity-endorsed chicken restaurants to hit metro Phoenix.

click to enlarge

Shaq is no stranger to celebrity endorsements and partnerships.

The Alkaline Water Company

Shaq's Big Chicken

ASU Mullett Arena, 411 South Packard Drive, Tempe 

366 North Gilbert Road, #106, Gilbert

Inside the new Mullett Arena ice hockey stadium in Tempe, there's a floor-to-ceiling poster of Shaquille O'Neal. What could he be doing here? You may ask, realizing he is, in fact, not famous for hockey. But he's there to sell chicken. The first Valley location of Shaq's Big Chicken opened this fall inside the newly built home of ASU Hockey and the temporary digs of the Arizona Coyotes.

In mid-March, the second location of Shaq's chicken joint opened in downtown Gilbert's Heritage District, taking over the old Pomo location and drawing lines around the block of hungry customers waiting to get a taste of this famous bird.

Noah Schapp's TenderFix

Available online only

Noah Schapp, maybe known better as Will Byers from Netflix's Stranger Things or the voice of Charlie Brown in The Peanuts Movie, is putting a spin on celebrity-endorsed chicken. The 18-year-old actor has partnered with MorningStar Farms and King’s Hawaiian to create TenderFix, a virtual restaurant that serves chicken and plant-based sandwiches, sliders, and tenders. The "virtual" element means that the menu is cooked from IHOP kitchens, and is available for delivery on DoorDash, UberEats, GrubHub, and Postmates.

Ne-Yo's Johnny's Chicken & Waffles

9830 West Westgate Boulevard, D101, Glendale

Joining its first location in Atlanta, Johnny's Chicken & Waffles is set to open in Glendale's Westgate Entertainment District on Friday, March 31. The restaurant, which is a partnership between R&B artist and producer Ne-Yo and celebrity chef Crystal Smith, serves "world famous" chicken and waffles, along with catfish, fried shrimp, grits, and other Southern brunch and lunch classics.


The Glendale grand opening is scheduled for the same day tickets go on sale for the Arizona State Fair Coliseum Concert Series, which Ne-Yo is headlining this fall. The only thing that's not readily apparent, as the restaurant's founder's real name is Shaffer Chimere Smith, is, who the heck is Johnny?