Photos by Jane Kortright
It was 10:30 in the morning, and there was already a line to get into Dave’s Hot Chicken.
Granted, it was a line of two people, but by 10:45 a.m., at least six more customers had come in to get their fix of fast, fresh and spicy Nashville-style hot chicken.
Dave’s Hot Chicken served its first spiced chicken tenders in California in 2017, and today there are more than 400 franchise locations — and growing. So, why are people lining up around the clock at these chicken joints? For some, it’s the challenge of eating chicken so spicy that your eyeballs sweat and you’re still in recovery half an hour later.
But for most, it’s simply this: Good chicken, great service.
“If you’re going to be the spokesperson or if you’re going to invest in a brand, you need to be a champion of it first. You need to experience it, you need to live it. And the food is really incredible,” says Dustin Portillo, director of culture and community for Built Different Brands, which owns the Dave’s franchise in Augusta along with several Marco’s Pizza locations. “And we [also] create such a great story [and buy-in] with our team members, that our team members then spill that love over the counter to our guests.”
That love is all about the chicken tender, which is cooked fresh on-site (nothing is frozen) after a dip in Dave’s proprietary (and secret!) spice blend, prepared by a certified Spice Master. Then it arrives at your table, with a thick coating of dark red spice, ready to eat with Dave’s sauce — a rosy, pink mayo-based sweet sauce.
And if you’re not a spice fan? Dave’s got you covered, too. The spice levels are tiered: not hot, lite mild, mild, medium (which is when the spice starts to hit your throat), hot, extra hot — then the granddaddy of them all — Grim Reaper. “I always say, there’s a spice level for every taste bud,” says Portillo.
Dave’s even serves up cauliflower “tenders” that will make your eyes roll heavenward, and the Augusta location launched the viral Hot Mozz during its grand opening: mozzarella planks coated in Dave’s spice blend with a stretch that “you could do jump ropes with,” says Portillo with a laugh. And just for summer, diners can cool off with a Fruity Pebbles milkshake, strawberry lemonade slusher or orange cream slusher.
But it all goes back to the chicken. “We keep our menus really small to create the best food you can eat,” says Portillo. Whether it’s for the spice or not, “Guests leave thinking, ‘I need to come back.’”
Dave’s Hot Chicken also believes in giving back to the communities in which it operates. Follow Built Different Brands’ socials for details on a fundraising event in June to benefit the Augusta Fire Department.
As seen in the June/July 2026 issue of Augusta magazine.
