Drake loves it, now famed Hollywood chicken restaurant ready to roost in Burlington

A chicken franchise that started out on a Hollywood street corner and now partly owned by Drake, is about to open in Burlington.

Dave’s Hot Chicken, which created a buzz that led to long lineups when a bunch of buddies started to cook up their recipe on a roadside pop-up, is coming to a location at 2500 Appleby Line near Dundas St.

Founded in 2017, the company is considered one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains in the world having first swept California and now poised to open throughout Canada and in a number of global destinations. Four locations already exist in Toronto.

The chicken recipe has proved so popular and created such a buzz that it has attracted such celebrities as Drake and Samuel Jackson as investors to help the franchise nudge its way into the highly competitive fast-food chicken market.

Apparently, the mega-popstar and Toronto-based Drake took a liking to the chicken when Dave’s Hot Chicken catered at one of his celebrity parties in Los Angeles.

So how did it all happen?

Dave Kopushyan, one of the owners, says he was determined to create “the perfect” hot chicken recipe by constantly searching for ingredients, tasting his creations, frying, cooking, and grilling until he came up with the right combination to serve to customers.

Using $900 he and his friends rounded up, the team set up in a neighbourhood parking lot and with an aggressive social media marketing plan enticed people to try it…and they liked it. The pop-up soon started attracting large crowds and long line-ups that created enough buzz for food critics to take notice.

Within a year the group earned enough money to open a brick-and-mortar operation where customers often had to wait more than an hour to get served because of the growing demand.

Kopushyan has said the secret to the food’s success is that the operators kept it simple and will continue to do so.

Customers can expect a menu that consists of breaded chicken with various degrees of spice, fried chicken tenders, sliders and sandwiches, all usually served with sides of fries, mac n’ cheese and pickles.

As for Drizzy himself, no word yet if we can expect to see him dining at the grand opening.