Fast food giants better watch out. A bigger player (literally) has stepped up. Shaquille O’Neal is establishing a larger-than-life presence in the fast-casual dining space with Big Chicken’s latest accomplishment. The Fast Food Club compiled 15 Iconic Fast Food Milkshakes Ranked by Flavor and Creativity. Big Chicken Shaq won a spot on it. It’s not one of its signature ice cream shakes, though. It’s the limited edition masterpiece that beat out even McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A. Big Chicken’s iconic shake is special to the big man for another reason now.

Big Chicken Shaq’s Frosted Flakes Shake landed on the #10 spot on the Fast Food Club list. McDonald’s purple berry Grimace milkshake rounded the list at #15. Chick-fil-A’s Banana Pudding Milkshake was at #14. IHOP, Freddy’s, and Jack-in-the-box were in between. (In case you’re wondering, Shake Shack’s Chocolate Salted Caramel Shake is #1.)

Founded in 2018 and franchised since 2021, Big Chicken is a very new restaurant chain compared to its competitors. O’Neal and his business partners are slowly developing 300+ locations nationwide, opening the third store in Houston and another in Michigan recently. To be ranked in a highly competitive space is a huge accomplishment for the big man and his team.

Big Chicken CEO Josh Halpern was among the first to celebrate this achievement. “Proud to see Big Chicken be named as having one of the Top 10 most iconic milkshakes in the #QSR /#FastCasual universe ranked by #flavor and #creativity by the Fast Food Club for our “Frosted Flakes Cereal Milkshake”. Our Chef Rob led the collaboration with the Kellogg Company to create a milkshake that tastes “GRRRREAT!!” he wrote in a post.

As Halpern says, Big Chicken’s creative brains, Chef Rob Ryan created the Frosted Flakes Cereal for a special reason. And not just to beat its competitors.

Shaquille O’Neal is the muse behind the signature milkshake

McDonald’s Grimace milkshake was released in 2023 to celebrate the iconic character’s birthday. Big Chicken has an equally fun backstory connected to its giant muse.

O’Neal famously turned down endorsement offers from Wheaties, ‘the breakfast of champions,’ after winning his first three titles with the Lakers. It’s because he grew up eating Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes as a kid. For years, he wanted to collaborate with Tony the Tiger, the Frosted Flakes mascot.

His dream only came true in 2021, when Kellogg’s dropped a limited edition crispy cinnamon basketball cereal with Shaquille O’Neal. In 2024, they revived their partnership through Big Chicken.

Inspired by the self-proclaimed ‘big kid’, Chef Rob created the Frosted Flakes shake for the Big Chicken menu that was introduced in September. Like most of Big Chicken’s shakes, it comes in a tall glass, topped with a heap of vanilla ice cream, and a sprinkling of Frosted Flakes. The new locations in Michigan and Texas were some of the places fans could try this Shaq-style shake. It’s a clear sign that Shaq and his team will keep reinventing with Big Chicken.