12-03-2025
Restaurant franchise owner reportedly bringing Church's Chicken to Falls
NIAGARA FALLS — A local restauranteur under investigation for wage theft plans on bringing another fast food chain downtown.
Franchisee Muhammed Shoaib is opening a Church's Texas Chicken location on the ground floor of the Hyatt Place Hotel at 310 Rainbow Blvd., according to Buffalo Business First. It would replace the Cantina Falls Mexican Restaurant which opened in 2020.
He reportedly signed a 10-year lease for the 3,100 square-foot space with Hamister Hotels, which owns the Hyatt Place location. The Church's location is expected to be open for the summer tourist season following a $500,000 to renovation. It will have an indoor capacity of 50 to 80 people, and have 20 people staffing it.
Founded in San Antonio and based in Atlanta, the chain mainly serves fried chicken offerings. The Niagara Falls location would be the chain's first in New York state, with 767 locations in operation nationwide.
Shoaib did not return requests for comment.
Other potential future sites could be on Buffalo's Delaware Avenue and in Wheatfield.
He already operates Church's locations in Niagara Falls, Ont., and St. Catherines among his restaurants on both sides of the border, which include Moe's Southwest Grill, Papa Johns, A&W, and Crumbl Cookies.
His latest developments in Niagara Falls have drawn scrutiny, as he received $433,750 in Niagara County Industrial Development Agency tax incentives for A&W and Moe's locations on Rainbow Boulevard. That drew criticism from state lawmakers claiming he was exploiting a loophole in state law to get benefits in areas deemed 'highly distressed' for tourism-destination projects.'
This Church's Texas Chicken location, like the two previously mentioned locations, is in Census Tract 211 which has 37.4% of its population living below the poverty line.
Investigative Post also reported he had received $50,000 in Niagara Falls city grants in 2023 from the city's share of the American Rescue Plan for the two locations.
In January, the State Department of Labor started investigating claims from former Shoaib employees that they were not properly paid overtime or had their tips withheld.
That investigation came as the NCIDA in February granted him another $246,603 in incentives to turn the old Haunted House of Wax at 222 Rainbow Blvd. into a fast food franchise hub. The $2.55 million project is planned to finish by June, would hire 40 new positions and feature Cinnabon, Auntie Anne's Carvel Ice Cream, Subway, and a Mediterranean food eatery.
IDA officials had told the Gazette and Investigative Post they would wait and see what comes of the investigation before determining a course of action.
