![]() ![]() “Extra hot” kicks up the pungency and heat, but not to a degree uncommon in a Sichuan noodle dish. Order the tender as a sandwich on a Martin’s potato roll with pickles and slaw, and you have yourself a juicy, balanced sandwich that won’t wreak havoc on your insides. The “hot” level of seasoning - the third spiciest - exhibits the classic smoke and bitterness one might expect from Nashville-style chicken, with a whisper of sweetness and a pain level that’s not too much different from a standard order of Buffalo wings. The breading is particularly compelling, almost as if the chefs battered everything in crushed-up Kit Kat wafers. My verdict: Chef-founder David Kopushyan, who started Dave’s with three of his Armenian American friends, seems to have a solid franchise operation, with a local team that can turn out reliably crunchy poultry. ![]() There are no meaningful meat-free options if you’re vegetarian, your options are fries, kale slaw, or mushy mac and cheese. There is no bone-in chicken, no flavorful or fatty dark meat chicken, just lean tenderloins. Dave’s effectively offers just two savory mains: tenders and sandwiches - or actually, just one since the sandwich is just a tender on a roll. I dropped in twice during the opening week of service to check out the famously concise menu. And the Los Angeles-based Dave’s, which promotes itself as run by a chef trained at The French Laundry - that $1,000 wine country palace - and whose co-founder likes to Instagram himself in private jets and sports cars, has 77 locations so far. Nashville’s hip (and acclaimed) Hattie B’s boasts 10 locations across the South. KFC notably gave the style a go for a while. But the wild nationwide surge in hot chicken has happened somewhat independently of that community, occasionally fueling claims of appropriation. ![]() That’s all the more true since New York has a wonderful cadre of hot chicken spots and halal fried chicken joints, all restaurants doing their best to serve their communities without the benefit of Times Square billboards the size of apartment buildings.Ī post shared by Arman Oganesyan hot chicken, crispy and affordable birds transformed into edible supernovas thanks to the alchemy of chile and oil, has long been a staple of Black neighborhoods in Tennessee thanks to mainstays like Prince’s and Bolton’s. ![]() Whether this stretch of Eighth Avenue needs another fast food spot, or whether New York needs 19 more of these outlets, which is how many are scheduled to open, is a different question, however. It looks like a slab of rusty, corrugated metal - a bird forged from the pit of Mordor - and tastes of salt, sugar, and fire. The reason for that wait, aside from the brand’s half-million Instagram plus followers, is the fact that Dave’s makes a tasty and halal hot chicken tender. Dave’s Hot Chicken, born as a pop-up in East Hollywood in 2017, boasts 700 franchise locations under development, an investor named Drake, and now, a debut New York location with a 30-minute queue. On a stretch of Midtown West so densely packed with fast food outlets it could almost make Terminal 4 at JFK feel like an artisanal greenmarket, a couple of guys from Los Angeles have given us yet another fast food outlet. ![]()
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