Dave’s Hot Chicken to Open First Tucson Location
Dave’s Hot Chicken, the scrappy late-night pop-up turned hot chicken sensation, has announced the grand opening of its first restaurant in Tucson, at 5615 E. Broadway Blvd.
The new restaurant, opening Feb. 17, will be open Sunday – Thursday from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. until midnight.
Dave’s Hot Chicken specializes in hot chicken tenders and sliders, along with sides of house-made kale slaw, creamy mac n’ cheese and crispy french fries. Offered at seven spice levels ranging from No Spice to Reaper® (which requires a signed waiver for those who dare), each piece of hand-breaded chicken is spiced to order, using a spice blend crafted specifically for its heat level or no-spice.
Arman Oganesyan and best friend Chef Dave Kopushyan, along with brothers Tommy and Gary Rubenyan, launched Dave’s Hot Chicken in a parking lot pop-up in 2017. Dave’s Hot Chicken quickly took off, opening its first brick-and-mortar restaurant in East Hollywood. In 2019, the team struck a deal with Wetzel’s Pretzels co-founder and former CEO Bill Phelps, and movie producer John Davis to begin franchising the Dave’s Hot Chicken concept throughout the U.S. and beyond.
The company has sold the rights to more than 700 franchise locations in the U.S. and Canada and will open an additional 70 locations this year. Harkening back to an Eater LA blog that helped propel early interest in the brand, the company’s mission is to “blow their minds.”
Additional brand investors include Billboard’s Artist of the Decade, Drake, former California First Lady Maria Shriver, actor Samuel L. Jackson, and Good Morning America anchor and retired NFL player Michael Strahan.
