Big Chicken — Restaurant in Pocono Township

🤦‍♀️My 13 year old son made this review using my phone. I didn't know until I just now got the restaurant's reply. Since he is a seriously snobby eater, I need y'all to know, this means he REALLY liked your food! My boys (13 & 11) have NEVER eaten at the golden arches or with the king, and we rarely (RARELY) run for the border if y'all know what I mean. We are a Chick-Fil-A family. Living in South Florida, we don't have a Big Chicken. We were on vacation in the Poconos, and we were starving. My boy and my 74 year old father picked Big Chicken. The two pickiests most complainingest food critics in our family agreed on this place and bounced their happy butts into the joint. Everyone ordered chicken of some configuration: wings, tenders, sandwich. I held off and ordered the jalapeno slaw thinking I'd have to eat what everyone else decided they didn't like. THAT didn't happen. I don't think anyone even left crumbs. They all gobbled up their meals as if I never feed them. My son and father even started eyeing up the menu to order more. My 13 yo must have said 10 times "this is good! This is really good!" When he repeated not once but twice and hours apart nonetheless "this tastes better than Chick-Fil-A", I couldn't believe my ears. Better than Chick-Fil-A!?! What!?! I managed to steal one of my 11 yo's tenders, and they weren't lying. This chicken was damn good! I was expecting greasy, stomach ache inducing food. Nope! Straight up... it was delicious. The crinkle fries? Not cold. Not soggy. Not a mouthful of grease. Yes! Crispy! Yes! Crunchy! Yes! Flavorful! I couldn't believe how good everything was. So to reiterate what my boy said, this food was really good! I couldn't eat the slaw. I loves me jalapenos, but the spice was too much for this woman. The Strawberry Watermelon drink though! Mmmmmmm! I'm a Southern woman or what my father calls his redneck Puerto Rican. My drinks are Sweet Tea, Sweet Tea, and Sweet Tea. However, I wanted to take a gallon of this Strawberry Watermelon drink with me back to the hotel. I tried it because the sweet tea was out of order.

The decor was cute. Basic. I think the paper towel holders are the fanciest thing. The videos of Shaq being Shaq were entertaining. My dad liked watching the clip of Shaq trying to catch chickens. I had more fun trying to explain Shaq was more than just the Epson printer commercial guy to my boys. I was trying to show how tall he is, how investment diverse he is, and how my boys should do the same. My brother and I were always 2 degrees of separation from Shaq in Windermere, but lucky enough as little kids in the 80's to hang with Barkley when he'd visit Roy Hinson's house. Love that Charles has a sandwich, and it wasn't "terrible". 😄 The visit was not only good eats, but a fun way to tell my sons about great athletes I grew up with who made intelligent choices beyond sports . It made one of those "could have been forgettable" moments on vacation super memorable. 😊

Two problems though: #1. Someone teach those poor workers how to change the soda fountain syrup. They looked at me like I was speaking a different language when I tried to explain the issue to them. My boys laughed when the staff threw another out of order note up on there. #2. We need a Big Chicken in Broward County Florida!!!! 😄I've got two little boys ready to invest in...

In the culinary odyssey at Big Chicken, the flavors pirouetted gracefully on my palate, earning a resounding 7 or 8 out of 10 in the realm of epicurean indulgence. However, the portions, akin to a modest serenade, garnered a less enthusiastic 4 or 5 out of 10, leaving me yearning for a more substantial culinary crescendo.

During this poultry opera, a serendipitous encounter with neighboring diners revealed the sagacity of opting for the grandiose "bigger" size—a harmonious choice when embarking on communal feasts. The nuggets, potentially a dalliance with the darker side of poultry, may not have aligned with my predilection for white meat. Nevertheless, the promise of returning for a sonnet of chicken strips lingers in the air, a future aria in the gastronomic repertoire.

The sauces, those unsung heroes of the culinary ballad, stole the limelight with the nuanced Carolina mustard, the signature Big Chicken sauce, and the sweet and smoky Memphis number. Yet, the managerial minuet, with inquiries into my gustatory delight, struck a somewhat cringeworthy note—a minor dissonance in an otherwise harmonious experience.

Wistful desires lingered for a more crisped crescendo in the chicken department, while the Mac and Cheese, a cheesy sonnet topped with a cascade of dairy decadence, inspired a solemn vow to replicate this gastronomic masterpiece in my own culinary escapades.

Libations, a refreshing ode to quench the thirst, saw the strawberry lemonade stealing the spotlight—a sweet and tart interlude in this culinary opus. Safety, a key player in the gastronomic narrative, manifested in a unique waiver ritual—an intriguing note in the symphony of security.

Yet, the unexpected interjection of a tween chorus, proclaiming gratitude to Shaq after each morsel, added an unexpected cadence to the dining sonata. While some may revel in this culinary concerto, the siren call for better value, whether in amplified portions or diminished costs, echoes in my gastronomic musings. The final verdict, a discerning 6.5 out of 10, reflects the lingering notes of flavor and the crescendo of potential improvements in this ongoing...

I was really skeptical about this place and my skepticism was right. I ordered the Original Big Chicken w/ Crispy Onions combo & Popcorn Chicken w/ Sweet potato fries and oddly they gave me a combo which is a little bit more money. One bite into the chicken sandwhich, I got an instant reminder of what this sandwhich taste like...POPEYES. The same textured meat like Popeyes, which I hate. The pickles taste and looks like Popeyes pickles. The sauce looks similar as well. And ofcourse they cannot imitate Popeyes 100%, so they decided to use a different breading and make the coating thicker and subtract the spicyness from the sauce. I am convinced this restaurant is using the same food manufacturer Popeyes uses.

Lets talk about the fries. The regular fries and sweet potato fries are cut so thin, its the closest you can get to being potato chips without it being called potato chips and still classed as fries. You barely see and taste any potatoes. Both fries was hard and SALTY! Becareful with the sweet potato fries, they are hard and have sharp edges, it can cut you.

Last but not least, SERVICE! There was roughly 3 sets of ppl infront of me and yet it took a very long time to place an order. There's 2 registers but only one in use. What makes matters worse is you have atleast 10 workers who crowded the front whose having a good ole time talking, and carrying on and not working, that the manager had to come out to the front and appointed someone to the 2nd register to get the line moving and to remove some of the workers from the front. There's no way the manager can continue to run a brand new business like how it's currently being managed. But, I will say the employees are polite. There was no attitude in the mix....and I dont know how long they can keep that up for.

Overall, I will not be going back. This spot is more of a tourist spot, thats the only reason why this restaurant will continue to be in business. Oddly the food smells great but tasting it is a different story. Both meals was salty and dry, I actually have a headache...