I love all fried chicken, especially hot fried chicken. We’ve been waiting for Dave’s Hot Chicken to open in Columbus and the wait is finally over!
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What is Dave’s Hot Chicken?
Dave’s Hot Chicken is a fast casual chicken restaurant specializing in spicy “Nashville style” fried chicken tenders and sliders. It started with four friends in East Hollywood as a late night chicken stand and gained notoriety from Eater/LA and by being super instagramable and delicious.
Since opening in 2017, it’s now expanded across the country and even gained some notable investors like rapper, Drake.
Where is Dave’s Hot Chicken in Columbus?
The first Dave’s Hot Chicken (opening 9/30/22) in Columbus, Ohio is located at 3590 W. Dublin Granville Road in front of Whole Foods Market, in the former Payless Shoe Store! For us locals, it’s crazy to see a hot chicken joint go into a childhood shoe store but I’m not too mad about it.
The Sun Center on Sawmill Road is getting a major glow-up and I’m honestly here for it! The folks in charge of Dave’s Hot Chicken told me they are opening the next location on 15th and High Street on The Ohio State University campus. This is where I lived when I was at OSU and will be an awesome addition to that area.
Next on their list is the Polaris area which is pretty close to where we live so we’ll definitely be making our way to that location when it opens in the future.
What Should I Order at Dave’s Hot Chicken?
Their menu is straightforward, which is awesome. They have seven heat levels from “no spice” all the way up to “reaper.” For main entrees, you can enjoy tenders of your heat level with some white bread (pickles + Dave’s sauce on the side) to soak up the spice or you can opt for a slider that comes on a delightful bun, kale slaw, pickles, and Dave’s sauce.
The combos are served with crinkle cut fries that are sprinkled with their seasoning – it’s not super spicy, just flavorful and is a nice little touch to plain fries. If you want to add a side dish, you can choose from mac and cheese, kale slaw, cheese fries, or add an additional tender or slider.
We both got medium and hot and didn’t think they were unreasonable spicy! Next time, I’d probably try the extra hot just to get a little wild. They don’t have ranch and the Dave’s sauce, while delicious, doesn’t really add a cool down factor.
Something that isn’t listed on the menu but is offered and encouraged, is packets of honey! I highly recommend grabbing a few and drizzling it over your slider. It mixes super well with the spicy seasoning and kale slaw in my opinion.
What Else Do I Need to Know About Dave’s Hot Chicken?
This location will have a drive-thru which is awesome! You can also order online so it’s ready when you drive over. It is a small parking lot with limited parking so just be wary of that on busier days. You can always park in the former Babies ‘R’ Us parking lot and walk over, just watch for fast cars.
They don’t have kid’s meals or cater to kids which is totally fine in my opinion! If you have little ones you want to feed at Dave’s Hot Chicken, you can easily order a la carte sliders, tenders, etc. The mac and cheese is saucy and would definitely be approved by my kiddos! I didn’t see highchairs but I also didn’t look for them so they may have them but I’d prepare to have a stroller just in case you want to eat there with your little ones.
I absolutely recommend giving Dave’s Hot Chicken a try! We look forward to another visit in the future!
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