2023 is the year of the chicken chain.
The Dave’s Hot Chicken team is shown receiving the top award at FastCasual’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers gala. Photo by Networld Media Group.
Dave’s Hot Chicken took top honors Sunday night at the Fast Casual Top 100 Movers & Shakers awards gala, proving the 5-year-old brand may be new to the industry but it’s here to stay.
The gala was held in Chicago at the LondonHouse. The brand’s CEO, Bill Phelps, also made Fast Casual’s Top 25 Executives list.
Dave’s Hot Chicken, which started as a parking lot pop-up in Hollywood, celebrated its 100th opening in 2022 and has commitments to open 742 stores — 75 to come by year’s end.
Such fast growth isn’t possible, however, without a lot of operational support, which is why Dave’s implemented a cloud-based technology stack using Revel for POS, kitchen display systems and credit card processing. Olo aggregates third-party delivery companies and online ordering, Givex handles gift-card processing, and Restaurant365 supports back-office and accounting.
Harri allows for applicant tracking, onboarding employees, scheduling and timeclock/payroll compliance, while Restaurant Analytics Delivered is the company’s data warehouse and business Intelligence tool, which consolidates 13 data sources.
| Jim Bitticks, president and COO, accepts the award. |
Backed by celebrities, including singer Drake and actor Samuel L. Jackson, Dave’s Hot Chicken is attracting industry and media attention. A story about Dave’s expansion, for example, was FastCasual’s most-read story of 2022.
Dave’s isn’t the only chicken brand to land on the list. In fact, Chicken Salad Chick took second place and Shaquille O’Neal-owned Big Chicken rounded out the top three.
“Every few years, a new food category emerges as the leader in the fast casual industry,” said Cherryh Cansler, editor of FastCasual. “First, it was better burgers. Then came pizza followed by fro-yo and breakfast foods, which brings us to today when the better-chicken brands are at the top of the pecking order.”
A few things every brand on this list, chicken-focused or not, has in common, however, is a dedication to innovation, nimbleness and creativity.
Those three attributes were top of mind as judges sifted through the hundreds of nominations received over an eight-week period.
After hours of deliberation, the panel settled on 75 brands and 25 executives to round out this year’s Fast Casual Top 100 Movers & Shakers list.
Click here to read the full list of the Top 75 brands and 25 executives.
