Hot chicken restaurant chain backed by Drake planning Worcester location
Photo | Grant Welker
The Trolley Yard development in Worcester
A California-based chicken restaurant chain undergoing rapid expansion – with rapper Drake among its investors – has its sights on opening a Worcester location.
Dave’s Hot Chicken has applied for a license through the City of Worcester to open a location at Trolley Yard Plaza in Worcester, according to a Worcester License Commission agenda for its Aug. 8 meeting.
The national fast food chicken restaurant applied for the request to be open Sunday through Wednesday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday 11 a.m. to midnight, according to the commission’s agenda. The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday at Worcester City Hall.
The Trolley Yard Plaza on 41 Park Ave. includes a Starbucks, poke bowl restaurant Island Fin Poke, and healthcare practice Gentle Dental. It’s unclear which storefront will be utilized by Dave’s, but a former Orangetheory Fitness location at the plaza is unoccupied. The plaza is owned by Webster-based Galaxy Development.
Dave’s Hot Chicken opened in 2017, and since then has developed a variety of celebrity investors including singer and songwriter Drake. It was named America’s fastest-growing restaurant chain by food industry research firm Technomic, according to Dave’s website.
The chain has undergone significant expansion since its founding, opening more than 230 restaurants across six countries; Dave’s plans on opening 60 restaurants across the United Kingdom and Ireland, according to a July press release.
Dave’s has Massachusetts locations in Framingham, Chelmsford, Braintree, Woburn, Saugus, Newton, Medford, and Boston.
The menu includes jumbo hot chicken tenders and sliders, and customers can choose from a range of no spice to extra spicy. Sides include fries, mac and cheese, and kale slaw.
Sara Bedigian is a participant in the Editorial Internship Program at Worcester Business Journal. She is a rising junior at the University of Connecticut, where she studies journalism and political science. She will be the editor of the student-run newspaper The Daily Campus in the fall.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated from a previous version to include details on the plaza's ownership.
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