How did Dave's Hot Chicken go from viral sensation in a parking lot to
international juggernaut? Well… the truth is in the chicken.
Like many businesses before it,
Dave's Hot Chicken had humble beginnings. So humble, in fact, that the restaurant didn't
even have a roof over its head when it first opened. Let's go back to the start. The year
was 2017. Four friends with a passion for food — chef Dave Kopushyan, Arman Oganesyan,
and brothers Tommy and Gary Rubenyan — pooled together $900 to set up a tiny food stand in an
otherwise unmemorable East Hollywood parking lot. Equipped with little more than a fryer,
a talented chef, and a homemade spice recipe, the quartet began
serving up batches of Nashville-style hot chicken to anyone who would stop by.
Their operation was simple, and so was their philosophy: Make the food the star.
They made it a priority to source the highest quality chicken they could find. The juicy,
tender strips of meat were fried and then topped with one of Kopushyan's signature spice mixes.
Word of this late-night chicken operation, and the incredible food it was churning out,
quickly grew around Southern California. Before they knew it,
customers were lined up around the block waiting to try some of Dave's Hot Chicken.
The legend of Dave's Hot Chicken
didn't just spread by word of mouth. The chain credits much of its popularity, especially in
its early days, to the power of social media. When Dave's was still operating out of a parking lot,
co-founder Arman Oganesyan began promoting the business on Instagram. As the buzz increased,
more diners flocked to East Hollywood. Eventually, major outlets were forced to
sit up and take notice, which only brought even more attention. Dave's Hot Chicken CEO
Bill Phelps told QSR Magazine that Oganesyan was "the best marketer he's ever worked with."
It's especially high praise considering Phelps once worked in marketing for food giant Nestlé.
Dave's got a boost from its customers, too, many of whom uploaded videos of
themselves trying the hot chicken. The social media buzz surrounding Dave's
Hot Chicken hasn't quieted down. Quite the opposite, in fact. As of the summer of 2022,
the chicken chain has garnered more than 31 million views of user-generated content
on TikTok and had the most Instagram followers per restaurant of any national fast food chain.
"That is some hot, hot chicken right there. Wow."
While the food gets most of
the spotlight at Dave's Hot Chicken, let's not forget about co-founder Dave Kopushyan. It is
his chicken, after all. But who exactly is he? Kopushyan is the chain's culinary mastermind,
a title he has the resume to support. According to The Press Democrat, Kopushyan attended culinary
school at The Art Institute of California in Los Angeles, which has since closed.
It was there that he became recognized as a "spice nerd," according to the chain's CEO,
Bill Phelps. This love of seasoning would come in handy later on in Kopushyan's life.
But before he went into business for himself, Kopushyan had another stop to
make on his path to success. And this wasn't any run-of-the-mill culinary gig. Instead,
he went to work for none other than Thomas Keller. For those not familiar,
Keller is widely considered to be one of the best chefs in the world. He owns several restaurants
throughout the country. The most notable of these is the iconic French Laundry, a three-Michelin
star eatery in Yountville, California. Keller also founded the Bouchon brand of restaurants,
which is where Kopushyan worked. Eventually, Kopushyan took his honed culinary skills
and coupled them with his spice nerdiness to develop Dave's Hot Chicken. The rest is history.
It's one thing to operate a parking-lot chicken stand. It's quite another to build a global
business, which is precisely what the founders of Dave's Hot Chicken wanted. To accomplish this,
they knew they needed help. They found it in the form of Bill Phelps.
Phelps came aboard as an investor in the company in 2019 and was
simultaneously named CEO. He had all the necessary experience. In the 1990s,
Phelps worked for the food manufacturing conglomerate Nestlé. During his time there,
he and co-worker Rick Wetzel developed a business plan for their own pretzel chain.
That company would become Wetzel's Pretzels. As CEO, Phelps grew the chain to 350 stores before
leaving to join Dave's Hot Chicken. Phelps was also among the investors in Blaze Pizza,
which now boasts more than 300 locations itself. The CEO took the lessons he learned
from these previous ventures and used them to help Dave's Hot Chicken grow at an unparalleled rate.
In case Dave's Hot Chicken
wasn't popular enough on its own, it has a host of celebrity investors to help further boost its
profile. In 2019, the chain secured a partnership with the investor group responsible for the rise
of Blaze Pizza. The deal helped Dave's Hot Chicken grow in what was still its early days. But the
move is probably best known for the list of famous faces it brought into the chain's ownership group.
The investment group included Bill Phelps of course, along with former California
First Lady Maria Shriver, movie producer John Davis, and Tom Werner,
chairman and part owner of the Boston Red Sox. Phelps told Nation's Restaurant News:
"We fell in love with this business because of the food. It's so good and so craveable.
It looks like an absolutely killer concept that we believe has national potential."
It didn't stop with those four, however. Other investors joining at that time included A-list
actor Samuel L. Jackson and NFL star turned television host Michael Strahan. Just when
you thought the investing team's pedigree couldn't get any better — it did. In 2021,
one of the most famous men on earth, a guy by the name of Drake, came on board with
a minority stake in the chicken chain. The rapper said via Restaurant Business Online:
"I tried the food, and it was amazing. After meeting the founders and hearing their story,
I jumped at the opportunity to invest."
Dave's Hot Chicken entered 2021 with
just seven brick-and-mortar locations. By the end of 2022, the chain boasted roughly 100 outposts
across the world. This expanded footprint led to a massive growth at the register. Dave's
Hot Chicken reported its total sales volume grew 262% from 2020 to 2021. The chicken restaurant's
sky-rocketing success led foodservice research firm Technomic to label it the fastest-growing
restaurant in America. QSR Magazine went one step further, suggesting Dave's Hot Chicken
might be the fastest-growing franchise in the history of the restaurant industry.
As breakneck as the ride has been, don't for a second think that the
company has any plans to slow things down. In May 2022, Dave's Hot Chicken reported that it
had more than 700 restaurants in development. Co-founder Arman Oganesyan told QSR Magazine:
"It's pretty incredible, but I think we also realize that we still have a lot of
work to do. We still have a lot of stores to open. [...] We're still in that work mode,
continuously trying to improve the brand as much as we can."
In January 2021,
Dave's Hot Chicken opened a location in Toronto. Not only was it the chain's first
Canadian outpost, but it also marked the start of its now flourishing international expansion.
About a year after debuting up north, Dave's Hot Chicken announced it had signed a franchise
deal with restaurateur Walid Hajj to open more than 30 locations throughout the Middle East.
This included stores in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.
The first Middle East location opened in Dubai in September 2022. As of March 2023,
Dave's Hot Chicken had six international locations up and running: three in Toronto,
two in the United Arab Emirates, and one in Qatar.
Not all chicken chain menus are created equal. You can get salads at Chick-fil-A,
fish sandwiches at Popeyes, and pot pies at KFC. But don't expect such menu variety at
Dave's Hot Chicken. The fast-casual chain only serves chicken entrees. And you won't
find any chicken wings or drums coming out of the kitchen. Only chicken tenders. Even the
sliders at Dave's are chicken tenders served between two slices of bread.
In total, the menu consists of four combo meal options: two tenders, two sliders,
one tender and one slider, and one slider. Dave's also has four sides to choose from:
fries, cheese fries, mac and cheese, and kale slaw. The pared down list of offerings isn't
due to any lack of imagination. Instead, it was a purposeful decision made by the chain's founders
to ensure they are serving the best food possible. Co-founder Arman Oganesyan told Yahoo! Finance:
"The reason we do tenders only is ... so we can maintain a high quality food,
while still having a high output level. That way, we can kind of prep it and cook
it as it's ordered ... not keep it under heat lamps and not have it be pre-made."
Dave's Hot Chicken might
only come in one chicken form, but there are a total of seven levels of heat to choose from:
no spice, lite mild, mild, medium, hot, extra hot, and reaper. If you want to get a good idea of how
well the chicken is cooked and prepared, or you absolutely abhor spice of any kind, go ahead and
order the no spice chicken. Those looking for a bit of heat should skip ahead to medium. This is
when Dave's Hot Chicken really begins to dial into the fire. The chicken continues to get gradually
hotter as you make your way through the levels until you reach the end of the line: the reaper.
"It tastes really good but it feels like your mouth is on fire."
Named after the Carolina Reaper, which holds the title of world's hottest chili,
the reaper is Dave's hottest, spiciest chicken. Some diners
have reported having to sign a waiver when ordering it that states, in part,
"Eating the REAPER can cause me harm, including,
but not limited to, bodily injury, property damage, emotional distress, or even death."
Drake isn't just one of the owners of Dave's Hot Chicken. He's also a promoter. In October 2022,
he put the chain in the spotlight with an act of generosity. To celebrate his 36th birthday,
the rapper gave people what they wanted. No, not a new album — free chicken. All hungry fans had to
do was show up at any Dave's Hot Chicken location between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time and show the
restaurant's staff that they follow the chain on either Instagram or TikTok. In exchange,
customers would receive a chicken tender or slider free of charge. The move was part of
a larger publicity push as it coincided with the rollout of the chain's first national ad campaign.
Dave's Hot Chicken is anything but traditional. So, when the chain launched its first national
advertising campaign in the fall of 2022, it didn't stick to the script. Instead,
the chicken chain leaned into the world of dark comedy in hopes of creating some
memorable content. The "Don't Die Before You Try It" campaign consisted of two 30-second
commercials. In both, actors are seen talking to the camera, mourning the death of their fictional
loved one and regretting how they had passed before being able to enjoy the chain's food.
"Please don't mess up and die before you eat Dave's."
Matt Rogers, the creative director of Party Land,
the agency that devised the campaign, told QSR Magazine:
"At Dave's they have a history of breaking the rules,
so we had a lot of permission from them to go big. 'Don't Die
Before You Try It' felt like the ultimate realization of where the brand started."