Dave’s Hot Chicken is Opening on the Upper East Side

Dave’s Hot Chicken, which launched in an East Hollywood parking lot in 2017 and opened its first NYC location (Midtown West) last August, is making its way to the UES, with signage now up at 1498 Third Avenue (between 84th and 85th streets) – the space formerly occupied by East Side Health Food.

Advertisement

Since debuting out west, the Nashville-style poultry purveyor – which offers heat levels ranging from “no spice” to “Reaper” (that’s hot) – has developed a huge cult following, attracted investment dollars from Drake, and expanded to over 100 locations throughout the US, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. They’ve now got plans to open 20 locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn this year, and were recently named America’s Fastest Growing Restaurant Chain by industry research firm Technomic.

The quick and to-the-point menu offers four combos with sliders, tenders or both, along with a side of kale slaw, crinkle-cut fries and Dave’s sauce (which this website claims to have the recipe for). Sides include smaller portions of everything we just mentioned, plus mac & cheese (and fries with cheese on them). They’ve also got milkshakes (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry).

Dave’s Manhattan outpost has a score of 4.5 stars (out of 5) on both Yelp and Google. Most of the 1-star reviews we read included complaints about the chicken being too salty. But the city’s overall consensus seems to be leaning positive.

We’ve reached out to Dave’s for a target opening date.