Dave’s Hot Chicken turned $900 and a folding table into 398 US restaurants in eight years. Nashville-style hot chicken at seven heat levels is nearly all it sells. That narrowness is the point.
Below, Dave’s Hot Chicken History covers the parking-lot pop-up, the chef behind the spice rub and the billion-dollar deal that followed. The menu itself, priced item by item, sits on its own page.
Dave’s Hot Chicken History
Four friends opened Dave’s Hot Chicken in an East Hollywood parking lot in 2017. Dave Kopushyan, Arman Oganesyan and the brothers Tommy and Gary Rubenyan pooled $900 for a fryer and folding tables. Nashville-style hot chicken was the only thing they sold. That narrowness never really changed.
Dave Kopushyan had trained under Thomas Keller at The French Laundry before turning to hot chicken. The dry rub he built goes on after frying rather than into the batter. One kitchen can therefore serve seven heat levels from a single batch, and Reaper and No Spice leave the same fryer.
A permanent restaurant followed in late 2018, then franchising took the count from seven at the start of 2021 to roughly 250 by late 2024. Drake, Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Strahan have all held minority stakes along the way. Roark Capital Group bought a majority stake in June 2025 at a valuation near $1 billion, with the founders keeping operational control. The company runs from Pasadena, a few miles from the East Hollywood car park where it started in 2017.
Dave’s Hot Chicken Menus and Details
Dave’s Hot Chicken splits its detail across three pages: the priced menu, the off-menu builds and the allergen list. Every figure comes from one published source rather than a blend, so a number here will not disagree with one there.
Dave’s Hot Chicken Menu Prices
Tenders, sliders, Hot Mozz, cauliflower builds, sides, shakes and slushers, each carrying its calorie figure beside the item rather than in a separate sheet. Read the full Dave’s Hot Chicken Menu Prices.
Dave’s Hot Chicken Secret Menu
Reaper Slider Stacks, Animal-Style Fries and the other off-menu builds, each with the wording to use at the counter. Read the Dave’s Hot Chicken Secret Menu.
Dave’s Hot Chicken Allergen Menu
Which tenders, sliders, cauliflower builds, sides and shakes declare wheat, soy, milk, egg or sesame, item by item. Read the Dave’s Hot Chicken Allergen Menu.