[EXCLUSIVE] Usher-Backed Hot Chicken Joint Secures Former Burrito Spot in Sandy Springs

One of the first metro Atlanta locations of Dave's Hot Chicken is coming to Sandy Springs.  The new eatery will be located in a roughly 1,700 square foot space in the Trader Joe's-anchored Sandy Springs Plaza at 6309 Roswell Road, not far from Sandy Springs City Hall.  

The new Dave's is opening in place of Willy's Mexicana Grill which closed this past December after more than eight years in business. 

Dave's Hot Chicken is a Los Angeles-based Nashville-style hot chicken brand that got its start in a West Hollywood parking lot in 2017 and has since expanded to some 200 restaurants worldwide, with more than 700 in development, according to the company. 

In March it was announced that former Atlantan and multi-Grammy award-winning entertainer Usher had joined a large existing Dave's franchise group to help fund the brand's metro Atlanta expansion.  The Sandy Springs eatery is just a few miles south of North Springs High School from which Usher graduated.  

Usher, who previously adhered to a strictly vegan diet, now maintains a primarily vegetarian lifestyle.  Luckily for him, Dave's introduced Dave's "Not" Chicken this past January, which includes Cauliflower Sliders and Bites.  

The main Dave's menu is basic: chicken - mild, medium, or Reaper - available in a slider, as tenders and bites, plus sides like Kale Slaw, Mac & Cheese, and fries, plus sodas and shakes...and not much else.  

That said, Dave's is entering the Atlanta market at a time when hot chicken purveyors have seen mixed results.  Scoville, an Atlanta-based Dave's-inspired hot chicken joint launched in 2020, and at its peak grew to about a dozen locations with one as far away as New York.  Today, however, after several closures, the chain has shrunk to just three: Buckhead, Sandy Springs, and Lawrenceville.  Howlin' Willy's, a sibling brand from Atlanta's Willy's Mexicana Grill, launched in 2021, and in April debuted its fourth overall location in East Cobb, its first not located within an existing Willy's.  

The Original Hot Chicken, a fledgling Atlanta-based franchise, opened a Sandy Springs location - along with several sibling concepts - at the corner of Roswell and Abernathy Roads in June 2023.  After nearly a year open, the restaurant has only received only three reviews on Google with an overall 3.7 rating with the most recent (one star) review saying in part:  "Food is terrible. I mean it is terrible."   

As far as out-of-town chains go, Joella's Hot Chicken, a Louisville-based concept, has now closed all four of its Atlanta area locations, with three having become Whataburger restaurants, and a fourth slated to reopen later this month as a new Chicken Salad Chick.  

Nashville's Hattie B's Hot Chicken, viewed by many as one of the popular hot chicken joints, opened a second Atlanta area location in West Midtown in 2022 but the lines that frequently grew at the Little 5 Points unit have not become a routine occurrence at the new unit.  

In addition to the Sandy Springs unit, another Dave's is coming to 1447 Highway 138 in Conyers where it is backfilling a roughly 2,000 square foot former Krystal.  Lawrence Kourie and Andrew Feghali, the existing franchisees with whom Usher partnered, plan to open as many as nine Dave's Hot Chicken restaurants across metro Atlanta and Athens.  

Have you ever been to Dave's Hot Chicken?  Do you think Dave's will find success in metro Atlanta?  Who do you think offers the best hot chicken?

Please share your thoughts below.