Franchisees Jiger Patel and Pranav Desai of Philadelphia-based The Integrity Group, a restaurant management and development firm operating along the East Coast, recently inked an eight-unit deal with Dave’s Hot Chicken for the greater Philadelphia region, according to Desai.
The duo is looking at a number of counties including Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Montgomery, and Delaware, with their initial hopes pinned on Center City, Northeast Philadelphia, and Springfield. To date, no leases have been signed. Nevertheless, two of those locations should open in mid-2023 followed by an additional four to six through the following year and potentially into 2025.
“We were looking at many hot chicken concepts, and when we saw that this was a street food concept backed by celebrity investors – and when we experienced the food in Houston, Chicago, Wisconsin, and LA to meet the executive team – we were sold and knew that this was the brand we wanted to bring to this market,” Desai tells What Now Philadelphia.
Similarly, with more than 70 locations across the country, vice president of franchise development for Dave’s Hot Chicken, Shannon Swenson, said in a statement, “We’re really starting to make our presence known along the East Coast, and Philadelphia was a key market for us to enter to continue establishing Dave’s throughout the region.”
Dave’s Hot Chicken – which bills itself as Nashville-inspired – began in 2017 when “four friends scrounged up $900 to put a tiny stand in an East Hollywood parking lot,” according to the company’s website. Shortly thereafter, “Eater/LA showed up to see what the fuss was about, [and] the next morning’s headlined read ‘East Hollywood’s Late Night Chicken Stand Might Blow Your Mind’.”
In the five years since, Dave’s Hot Chicken has assembled a roster of A-list celebrity investors including Drake, Samuel L. Jackson, and Maria Shriver with outposts across the US and Canada.
