The latest step in its Milwaukee-area expansion, Dave’s Hot Chicken is planning a location on the city’s Lower East Side.
The fast-casual hot chicken restaurant will be located at East Pointe Market Place. The retail center at 544 E. Ogden Ave. is anchored by a Pick ‘n Save grocery store and home to several other quick-service chain restaurants including Noodles & Co., Einstein Bagels, Starbucks, Jersey Mike’s and Jamba Juice.
It would be the second location to open in southeastern Wisconsin for Los Angeles-based Dave’s Hot Chicken and its local franchise operator, Milwaukee-based Roaring Fork Restaurant Group, the largest Qdoba franchisee in the country with 58 Qdoba locations across Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa.
Roaring Fork last year signed a deal to open 14 Dave’s Hot Chicken restaurants over the next six years, in Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, Green Bay and the Fox River Valley. The first Milwaukee-area location opened earlier this year at the Whitestone Station development in Menomonee Falls. Roaring Fork president Ron Stokes could not be immediately reached for comment on the company’s latest planned location.
Dave’s Hot Chicken on the East Side is slated to open Sept. 28, according to a license application. Construction on the space has begun, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 19. The restaurant would operate daily from 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. (midnight on Friday and Saturday).
Dave’s specializes in Nashville-style hot chicken, including tenders and sliders. What started as a parking lot pop-up in 2017 has grown into a fast-casual brand, with more than 240 units committed within its first year of franchising. The company currently has nearly 80 locations open or in development in the U.S. and Canada.
