Dave’s Hot Chicken was born five years ago in a parking lot in East Hollywood and has quickly zoomed past 100 locations, from its birthplace in Los Angeles to Brooklyn, Canada and Dubai.
The brand plans to open an additional 70 locations this year, according to Bill Phelps, CEO of Dave’s Hot Chicken, who bought into the concept with movie producer John Davis to franchise it.
“Dave’s Hot Chicken is the wildest business I've ever been associated with,” said Phelps, a former cofounder and CEO of Wetzel’s Pretzels. The company has sold franchise rights for more than 700 restaurants and recruited 25 new franchise owners for locations as far ranging as Connecticut, Florida, and New Hampshire to Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Washington.
Dave’s Hot Chicken specializes in hot-chicken tenders and sliders with such sides as kale slaw, mac ’n’ cheese and French fries. The chicken is offered at seven spice levels, ranging from No Spice to Reaper, which requires a signed waiver.
In 2022, the company launched its first advertising campaign, aligning with investor Drake’s birthday in late October. The Billboard Artist of the Decade hooked up close to 100,000 of the company’s social media followers with Dave’s food.
Other celebrity investors include former California First Lady Maria Shriver, actor Samuel L. Jackson and retired NFL player Michael Strahan.
The concept was founded in 2017 by Arman Oganesyan and his best friend, chef Dave Kopushyan, along with brothers Tommy and Gary Rubenyan. They remain involved in the business.
“There's a cool factor about the Dave’s Hot Chicken brand,” Phelps said. “It's really with the guys and their story. These were kids with $900 in savings who had a dream and a creativity about them that's hard to describe.
“We have really held on to that,” he continued. “A lot of people like myself would come in and dismiss the founders. We have done the opposite of that. We have kept them very much embraced in the business and into the culture, which makes it seem like a young entrepreneur brand even though we're growing at a pretty good rate.”
Dave’s units are generally in the 2,000–2,700-square-foot range, with Phelps saying the target would be 2,300 square feet. The restaurants generally seat between 45 and 50.
Phelps said the check average is “at the top of the industry” but the brand, which has benefited from moderating chicken prices, doesn’t plan to take any price increases for the foreseeable future.
The young concept has been able to capitalize on digital marketing, Phelps said, especially with the reach of investors like Drake.
“In today's social media world, you can market these concepts incredibly effectively without a lot of money,” Phelps said. “Our primary marketing vehicle for the first few years was Instagram, and we're out there with Instagram telling the stories, doing stories, doing posts, and this viral approach just worked.”
Last October, Drake posted about free chicken for followers on his birthday.
“He posts a story that gets 27 million views in 24 hours,” Phelps said. “You just can't buy that kind of exposure.”
Digital market is evolving, though, especially for celebrities with big followings.
“We don't overuse them,” Phelps said. “You have to use them in a proper way so that it doesn't look contrived. The beauty of Dave’s is how real it is and how organic the social media is. … You want to use them intermittently and it makes it more interesting. It makes it fun.”
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Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected]