By Mace Funkhouser

Do you enjoy the crispiness, tenderness, and juiciness of fried chicken? How about the kick of Nashville-style hot fried chicken? If you answered yes to either of those, you need to check out Dave’s Hot Chicken‘s new location on West Broad Street in Short Pump. 

Dave’s Hot Chicken was started by four friends in Los Angeles in 2017, and it has quickly become one of the nation’s most popular fried chicken chains. Dave Kopushyan, Arman Oganesyan, and brothers Tommy and Gary Rubenyan started with only $900 and initially sold their fried chicken in a parking lot. They now have over 200 locations, including 14 abroad. 

One of the main ways that Dave’s Hot Chicken has grown in popularity is through social media, as countless well-known food reviewers and influencers have tried it and given positive reviews. After seeing numerous food connoisseurs give it high ratings on TikTok, I was ecstatic to learn that Dave’s Hot Chicken was opening in Richmond, as the DC locations had previously been the closest. I visited their new location with friends on opening day, December 20, 2024, and have been back multiple times since.

Dave’s Hot Chicken is some of the best fried chicken Richmond has to offer. They offer chicken tenders, chicken sliders, and chicken bites in different combinations with a side. The combo meals come with fries as the side, but they can be swapped for mac & cheese or coleslaw. 

Each time I’ve visited, the chicken came out piping hot, tasting fresh, and heavily coated in the seasoning of the spice level we chose, all in under 15 minutes. The Dave’s bites were slightly less crunchy and flavorful, but the tenders and sliders were near perfection. When asked about his meal, Soham Saxena (’25) said, “It’s the best fried chicken I’ve had in Richmond, for sure.” Dave’s uses a dry rub to coat the chicken, but the chicken was still extremely juicy. The tenders my friends and I ordered varied in size, but all the meals had substantial portions. The chicken-to-breading ratio was optimal, with the chicken making up most of the tender, but the breading remaining crispy and packing plenty of flavor. When asked about the chicken itself, Heath Holmes (’25) agreed, saying, “The spices and crunch are amazing.” 

Photo credit: @daveshotchicken via Instagram.

When I paired the chicken with the Dave’s sauce, honey, and pickle slices that came with the meal, the chicken became a beautiful harmony of spicy, sweet, and savory flavors. Dave’s sauce is similar to other special sauces, like Hangry sauce from Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken, but it added to the meal and complemented the chicken well. Their crinkle-cut fries were somewhat inconsistent, as the crispiness and amount of seasoning varied each time I went. On the worst day, the fries were average. On the best day, the fries were solid but still outshined by the chicken. 

For dessert, Dave’s offers a variety of shakes and “slushers,” their version of a slushy. I tried the Cinnamon Toast Crunch top-loaded shake, which wasn’t exactly what I expected. It was refreshing and helped cool down the spice from the chicken, but the shake tasted more like custard than ice cream, catching me off guard. I wish they had blended extra Cinnamon Toast Crunch into the shake before topping it with Cinnamon Toast Crunch to add more flavor, but it was still a decent shake. 

Dave’s offers seven different spice levels for the chicken, from no spice to Reaper, so you don’t have to be a spice-lover to enjoy their food. The mild spice had a little heat, but not much. I’d recommend this spice level for someone who doesn’t like heat that will make them sweat, or make their eyes water, but still wants added flavor compared to the no-spice option. The medium spice level was phenomenal, however. The heat was immediately noticeable but never got too hot, giving it the best possible flavor without becoming uncomfortably spicy. 

The hot spice was also sensational, but it was right on the edge between perfect and too spicy. In our conversation about the best heat levels, Noah Kantner (’25) said, “Hot is my favorite, because it has the most flavor, but the less spicy seasonings are still really good.” If you’re looking to get extremely hot food, I recommend trying the hot, extra hot, and Reaper spice levels to test the limits of your spice tolerance. 

In addition to great food, it’s clear that Dave’s Hot Chicken takes pride in their customer service and the atmosphere of their restaurants. All the employees I interacted with were energetic and cheerful. When I called to see if they were still open, despite the inches of snow that had fallen the night before, the employee immediately answered, “Oh yeah, our hot chicken melts the snow right away!”

In addition, Dave’s is always clean and efficient. One user on TripAdvisor, Anywhere_on_the_road, reacted similarly, saying, “The restaurant was very clean. Well lit. Felt fresh and not ‘greasy’ like many fast food joints.” In addition to it being well-kept, the modern look of the interior and the graffiti-style art covering the walls made the experience much more pleasant than a typical fast-food chain. 

Interior of Dave’s Hot Chicken. Photo credit: Mace Funkhouser.

Most of my friends had overwhelmingly positive reviews, but not all of them. After our first time trying Dave’s Hot Chicken, William Andrews (’25) said, “It tastes pretty much just like other hot fried chicken places, like Hangry Joe’s.” Another problem for some of my friends and I is the restaurant’s location. Dave’s is a 15-20 minute drive from Collegiate School and even farther from the West End. Despite these drawbacks, I had a great experience at Dave’s Hot Chicken and am eager to return. Overall, I would give Dave’s Hot Chicken a 9.1/10 and strongly encourage you to try it if you haven’t already.

Featured image credit: Mace Funkhouser.