Dave’s Hot Chicken sales cook

It eyes 150 more franchise commitments this year.

Dave’s Hot Chicken’s average sales per branch have reached $3m, outperforming other quick-service restaurants (QSR) like Wingstop, CAVA, and Sweetgreens.

The California-based fried-chicken chain partly owned by rapper Drake is using this allure to bring in 150 more franchise commitments and open 155 restaurants by year-end.

“We've now sold 1,020 franchise commitments, and our goal for this year is to reach 1,170,” Jim Bitticks, president and chief operating officer at Dave’s Hot Chicken, told the QSR Media Asia TabSquare Conferences & Awards 2025.

Bitticks noted how a small-scale operation turned into a major franchise success story, all whilst managing to stay true to the brand’s roots. Today, Dave’s has about 300 stores across the US, Canada, the UK, and the Middle East.

Bitticks attributes much of their success to the quality of the chicken itself. “Our north star is the food quality,” he said. “The most important thing is to keep the chicken as good as the chicken currently is. That’s our superhero, our superpower.”

Dave’s Hot Chicken started when founder Dave Kopushyan teamed up with his childhood friends Tommy Rubenyan and Gary Rubenyan to bring Nashville-style hot chicken to Los Angeles. After months of perfecting their recipe, they started in a small parking lot in 2017 with just a fryer and a handful of tables.

“It was a tiny little fryer, an easy-up pop-up tent, and a chest of chicken tenders,” Bitticks recalled.

Despite its humble appearance, the pop-up caught the attention of food blogger Farley Elliott from Eater Los Angeles, whose viral article helped drive traffic. The next day, the small parking lot saw a crowd of more than 100 people waiting to taste the chicken tenders.

Seven months later, with additional investments, they opened their first brick-and-mortar restaurant in East Hollywood, an area not exactly known for food. But the lines kept forming, and in 2018, Yelp named Dave’s Hot Chicken the second-best restaurant in its annual rankings—a milestone they still can’t quite explain.

It was around this time when an unexpected investor joined the mix—hip-hop superstar Drake. Bitticks said having Drake on board, with his 143 million Instagram followers, provided invaluable exposure for the fledgling brand. “We used that story—probably about 100 restaurants in—to bring some attention to the brand.”

To maintain consistency, Dave’s focuses on operational excellence and franchisee support. The company's goal is simple: ensure the food quality never wavers.

Customer satisfaction is paramount, with each branch closely monitored through Yelp and Google reviews, all of which are acknowledged.

Bitticks said Dave’s is focused on international expansion and seeks to reach 350 branches by year-end.