Chicken chain Bojangles' Long Island return to include 2 restaurants

Southern chicken chain Bojangles’ plan to return to Long Island after exiting about 20 years ago includes the opening of restaurants in East Meadow and Farmingville.

Reestablishing a Long Island presence is part of the fast-growing chain’s push to expand beyond the Southeast, where Bojangles is primarily known.

Jericho resident Habib Hashimi will be the franchisee of the East Meadow and Farmingville restaurants.

"I believe in the brand. ... So I think that freshness and also the ability to quickly serve the product was a unique experience that I could bring to Long Island," he said.

The East Meadow restaurant would open at 1600 Hempstead Tpke. in the first quarter of 2028, Hashimi said. The drive-thru eatery would be in a space that was formerly occupied by a TD Bank.

Renovation plans for the proposed 4,200-square-foot restaurant are under review by the Town of Hempstead.

The Farmingville restaurant will be in a 2,806-square-foot building with a drive-thru, which Newsday first reported in November. Construction recently was completed on the restaurant, which is at 1019 Horseblock Rd. and is expected to open in late September, Hashimi said.

Each restaurant will employ about 110 people, he said.

Bojangles had a brief presence in the New York market, including a Long Island restaurant in Hempstead, in the 1980s. Bojangles also had another Long Island restaurant, in Kings Park, for a short time about 20 years ago, Smithtown Planning Director Peter Hans told Newsday in November.

Through his company, Hashimi Holding Corp., Hashimi signed a franchise deal with Bojangles in August 2025 to bring the fast-food chain back to the New York metro area by opening 21 restaurants in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island over 10 years.  About three months ago, he signed a Bojangles deal to open five more restaurants, he said.

His first Bojangles opened in Brooklyn’s East Flatbush neighborhood in January.

Biscuits rising in new markets

Founded in 1977 in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bojangles is known for its chicken sandwiches, fried chicken and Bo-Berry biscuits, which are made from scratch with blueberries and topped with icing.

Of the more than 880 Bojangles restaurants in 24 states, 68% are franchises.

Bojangles has been sold several times, most recently in January 2019, when it was purchased by two Manhattan-based private equity firms, Durational Capital Management LP and The Jordan Company LP, which took the publicly traded chain private.

Former McDonald's executive Jose Armario was named Bojangles' CEO the same month.

Bojangles is one of the fastest-growing chicken chains in the country, according to Technomic, a Chicago-based restaurant industry research firm.

Since 2023, Bojangles has been pushing growth into new markets. Approximately 50 Bojangles restaurants opened last year, and around the same number are being added this year, Bojangles spokeswoman Allyson Campbell said Tuesday.

This year, the chain entered Oklahoma and Michigan for the first time and expanded its presence in Arkansas, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio and Texas. The chain also will be opening its first Kansas eatery in October, Campbell said.

"We believe that we have the growth model and a growth strategy.  And, you know, we've been very successful in our core markets. ... We're not a new brand and, so, there comes a lot of learnings from that.  And it's just our time," she said.

The private equity firms backing Bojangles have helped drive its growth, David Henkes, senior principal at Technomic, told Newsday previously.

In fiscal 2025, Bojangles' gross sales totaled $1.94 billion. The chain's sales grew 4% in 2025 from the previous year, but they lagged the 5% growth in the overall chicken chain category, according to Technomic.

"We’ve seen sales growth cool recently for many of the big chicken players due to the major intensification of competition in the category. Nearly all the top chains are still adding new locations and there are only so many consumers to go around," said Kevin Schimpf, senior director of industry research at Technomic. 

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.