Dave’s Hot Chicken continues to convey the heat. The chain opened its five hundredth restaurant in Phoenix on October 8, according to Food & Beverage Magazine.
Those are spectacular numbers for a business three childhood buddies launched in 2017 with $900, transportable fryers and folding tables in an East Hollywood parking zone. Wetzel’s Pretzels co-founder Bill Phelps signed on to franchise the idea in 2019. In 2025, personal equity firm Roark Capital, which also owns Subway, purchased a majority stake at a valuation of about $1 billion.
The tempo hasn’t slowed. In April, Dave’s opened a report eight eating places in a single day. The model now operates in Canada, the Middle East and London, with a 180-restaurant deal masking 10 European international locations and development rights bought for more than 1,592 places worldwide.
“We weren’t thinking about hundreds of restaurants,” co-founder Arman Oganesyan said. “We were focused on making the best hot chicken we could and getting people to try it.”