The walls are covered with artistic murals and graffiti. He said Dave’s will provide a fun and energetic atmosphere for IU students and Bloomington residents. The chicken is then breaded, deep fried and seasoned with one of the seven spices.Īndy Qualiato, the restaurant’s area coach, focuses on franchise development through customer relations, restaurant management, staff recruitment and staff retention. The chicken is brined for over eight hours in a proprietary brine before it is prepped. “We don’t try to be all things to all people we do what we do perfectly well, and we think our product is good enough that that’s all we need to do.”īennett said Dave’s uses free-range, halal chicken. “We were started by a classically trained chef so we do Nashville-style hot chicken like it would be done if a fine dining chef did it,” Bennett said.

The menu also offers house-made French fries, macaroni and cheese, kale slaw and three flavors of milkshakes. All slider and tender meals come with “Dave’s sauce,” a creamy chipotle mayo sauce. The restaurant specializes in Nashville-style hot chicken sliders and tenders. Customers have the option to choose one of its seven levels of “heat” ranging from no spice to “reaper,” which requires customers to sign a waiver.

“It’s a new, fast-growing and exciting concept.” “Dave’s Hot Chicken is the exact right thing for Kirkwood Avenue,” Bennett said. The local café closed in October 2020.ĭan Bennett, the Bloomington location’s general manager and Bloomington native, said he is excited to come “home” after being across the Midwest for 26 years and managing other restaurant chain locations. In May 2021, the restaurant chain had plans to open a Bloomington location in one to two years to replace The Pourhouse Café - which previously occupied the space.

Dave's hot chicken grand opening