{"id":60314,"date":"2026-10-23T06:13:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T06:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/60314\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T06:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T06:13:10","slug":"daves-hot-chicken-opens-new-frankfort-kentucky-location","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/60314\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave’s Hot Chicken opens new Frankfort, Kentucky location"},"content":{"rendered":"

A restaurant chain that opened in Lexington in 2022 just opened its latest location in Frankfort.<\/p>\n

Dave\u2019s Hot Chicken, which is based in California, opened Oct. 16 at 2500 Vandalay Drive, Suite 105, in The Paddocks of Frankfort development. It\u2019s next to the new Target and near where BJ\u2019s Wholesale will be opening soon. It\u2019s the same shopping center where McAlister\u2019s Deli opened on Oct. 12. Both restaurants are owned by the same local operator, Charles Corley.<\/p>\n

\"Dave\u2019s Dave\u2019s Hot Chicken, which opened in Lexington in 2022, has opened a location in Frankfort at The Paddocks. The menu includes sliders and tenders in a variety of spice levels as well as sides. Janet Patton jpatton1@herald-leader.com \"Dave\u2019s Dave\u2019s Hot Chicken in Frankfort features a colorful mural inside the dining room. Provided <\/p>\n

Corley said he hopes to continue expanding Dave\u2019s Hot Chicken: He has one in Lexington; Jeffersonville, Indiana; St. Matthews in Louisville, and now in Frankfort.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still shooting for 10 in the Lexington\/Louisville area,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at some other locations. There might be one in Georgetown, we are close on that one. We\u2019ve also looked in Richmond.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dave\u2019s Dave\u2019s Hot Chicken opened in Frankfort in The Paddocks shopping center, near the new Target and a BJ\u2019s Wholesale opening soon. Provided <\/p>\n

Dave\u2019s Hot Chicken has been called one of the fastest-growing chains, hitting 500 stores this month. In June 2025, the chain, which was started by three friends in an East Hollywood parking lot, was purchased by Roark Capital for an estimated $1 billion. Roark also owns Subway, Dunkin\u2019 and Arby\u2019s.<\/p>\n

What makes Dave\u2019s stand out<\/p>\n

These days, it seems the fast-casual restaurant battleground is all chicken.<\/p>\n

\u201cChicken is … very popular these days,\u201d Corley said. \u201cThere definitely are a lot of concepts out now focused on chicken.\u201d<\/p>\n

What makes Dave\u2019s Hot Chicken stand out from the flock?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re kind of unique, similar to Nashville hot chicken, but with six different heat levels,\u201d Corley said. \u201cAnd our restaurants are all unique, with the street art on the walls. That kind of differentiates us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dave\u2019s Dave\u2019s Hot Chicken also serves chicken tenders with the spice level you specify. Sides include fries, which can come as cheese fries. Everything comes with Dave\u2019s sauce and with pickles. Janet Patton jpatton1@herald-leader.com \"The The menu at Dave\u2019s Hot Chicken includes sliders, with large chicken pieces slathered in sauce. You get to pick your heat level, from no spice to \u201creaper,\u201d an ultra hot level. Sides include kale slaw. Janet Patton jpatton1@herald-leader.com <\/p>\n

The menu is simple: You can get sliders, mini-sliders, chicken tenders or both. You pick your level of heat, from none to \u201creaper,\u201d an ultra-hot version that you have to sign a waiver for acknowledging you know you\u2019re about to question your life choices. And there\u2019s now a cauliflower \u201cNot\u201d Chicken version for vegetarians.<\/p>\n

For sides, Dave\u2019s Hot Chicken has crinkle-cut fries (plain or with cheese), kale slaw and mac and cheese. The tenders come on a slice of bread with a side of Dave\u2019s sauce. And everything comes with pickles.<\/p>\n

Dave\u2019s Hot Chicken<\/p>\n

Where: 2500 Vandalay Drive, Suite 105, Frankfort, KY<\/p>\n

Hours: Open daily 11 a.m. to around 11 p.m.<\/p>\n

Online: daveshotchicken.com<\/p>\n

This story was originally published October 22, 2026 at 7:04 AM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Lexington Herald Leader<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A restaurant chain that opened in Lexington in 2022 just opened its latest location in Frankfort. Dave\u2019s Hot Chicken, which is based in California, opened Oct. 16 at 2500 Vandalay Drive, Suite 105, in The Paddocks of Frankfort development. It\u2019s next to the new Target and near where BJ\u2019s Wholesale will be opening soon. It\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[4344,4342,4340,4343,4341],"class_list":["post-60314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kentucky","tag-kentucky","tag-kentucky-dining","tag-kentucky-food","tag-kentucky-grocery-stores","tag-kentucky-restaurants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dc\/117488753269677936","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}