A young Central Texas restaurant owner is bringing his growing fish and chicken concept to Bellmead — and he’s doing it before his 20th birthday.
Big Sharks Fish & Chicken is preparing to open its third location at 900 Victoria Street in Bellmead, expanding the Chicago-inspired restaurant beyond its two existing Killeen locations.
According to construction records filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the project will transform a former donut shop into a new restaurant. Plans call for approximately 1,215 square feet of renovations with an estimated construction cost of $200,000.
The project has already reached Review Complete status. The TDLR filing lists a construction schedule running from August 2026 through April 2027, although the restaurant’s owner has indicated he’s aiming to welcome customers considerably sooner.
But the building isn’t what makes this expansion particularly interesting.
Big Sharks’ owner started at just 17 years old
Big Sharks owner Mohammed Shawabkeh is only 19, but Bellmead will already be restaurant number three.
Shawabkeh told What Now Austin that he opened his first Big Sharks location when he was 17 years old, followed by a second location at 18. Now he’s taking the concept outside Killeen for the first time with the new Bellmead restaurant.
His restaurant experience started even earlier.
Shawabkeh grew up around the industry through his family’s restaurant businesses in Illinois. After coming to Texas, he took inspiration from the Chicago-style food he knew growing up and developed Big Sharks into his own concept — even creating the restaurant’s brand and logo himself.
That’s where the restaurant’s menu gets its identity.
Big Sharks brings Chicago-style fish and chicken
Big Sharks specializes in Chicago-style fried fish and chicken prepared fresh to order.
Its menu includes whole wings and chicken tenders alongside catfish, tilapia and shrimp. Customers can also find smash burgers, Philly-style sandwiches, loaded fries and combination meals.
Shawabkeh has said the restaurant’s breading, seasonings and recipes were influenced by the Chicago food he grew up around.
And while Big Sharks is still a small operation, the Bellmead expansion wasn’t simply a matter of finding an empty restaurant.
Why Bellmead?
Shawabkeh told What Now Austin that he had the Bellmead market professionally studied before choosing the location, looking at factors including demographics and traffic patterns.
The area’s proximity to Interstate 35 and continued development also helped attract his attention.
That makes Bellmead an important step for Big Sharks.
The company’s first two restaurants established the brand in Killeen. Moving into Bellmead gives the young business an opportunity to test its concept in another Central Texas market while still remaining within a manageable distance of its existing operations.
Big Sharks has already added the Bellmead restaurant to its official location lineup as Location #3.
A former donut shop is getting a new life
The new Big Sharks won’t require a ground-up building.
Instead, plans call for converting the existing 1,215-square-foot former donut shop at 900 Victoria Street into the restaurant.
That’s a relatively modest project compared with some of the multimillion-dollar developments arriving across Central Texas, but it gives an existing commercial space a new tenant while bringing another locally owned restaurant into Bellmead.
And work appears to be moving along.
Shawabkeh said signage had already gone up at the Bellmead location as the company prepares for its opening.
When will Big Sharks open in Bellmead?
There’s a little conflicting information on the timeline.
Big Sharks has indicated it hopes to open the Bellmead restaurant during fall 2026, while the TDLR filing carries a considerably longer construction schedule extending into April 2027.
Because construction timelines can change, there isn’t a firm opening date we’re comfortable putting on the calendar yet.
But the restaurant is clearly moving forward.
Once it opens, Bellmead will become the third market for a restaurant concept whose owner wasn’t even old enough to vote when he opened his first location.
That’s a pretty wild growth story.
Bottom line — Big Sharks Fish & Chicken is expanding beyond Killeen and into Bellmead, turning a former donut shop into its third Central Texas restaurant. And at just 19 years old, its owner is only getting started.