Central BBQ and Abner’s Famous Chicken to open new Memphis-area locations

Barbecue and chicken tender lovers, listen up.

Two Memphis restaurant chains have new locations in the works.

Central BBQ coming to Mississippi

Central BBQ is opening a restaurant in Southaven’s Silo Square.

“We are super excited to be moving into Silo Square next summer,” said Brian Wyatt, Central BBQ chief operating officer. “This will be the company’s first freestanding, from- the-dirt-up new construction design and buildout.”

Central BBQ, which was started in 2002, is a hometown favorite. There are currently four Memphis locations and two Nashville locations. The Silo Square location will be the company’s first restaurant in Mississippi.

Abner’s Famous Chicken opening in East Memphis

Abner’s Famous Chicken is opening a location at the corner of White Station Road and Poplar Avenue in the building that was most recently a Starbucks. The restaurant at 5201 Poplar Ave. should open in early fall.

Abner’s co-owner Kirk Cotham said the 1,800-square-foot space is a little bit smaller than what the chain typically looks for, but the visibility was too good to pass up.

“Shawn Massey [a broker with TSCG commercial real estate firm] brought it to us when Starbucks made the decision to move into the new building down the street, and we jumped on it,” Cotham said. “We couldn’t be more excited to serve the East Memphis community from that location.”

Because the building does not have a drive-thru, Cotham said a side door has been added so they could do curbside delivery without disrupting the line.

In 2019, Cotham and Chad Foreman, who also own Pyro’s Fire Fresh Pizza and Wolf River Brisket Co., acquired the Oxford, Mississippi, fried chicken tender brand Abner’s Famous Chicken. They have spent the past year refreshing the brand; there is a new logo and stores have been remodeled. Currently, they have Abner’s restaurants in Cordova and in Oxford, Brandon and Tupelo, Mississippi. Another new Memphis location is slated to open in Crosstown Concourse later this year.

Commercial Appeal Article Here