Back in 2017, four friends, Arman Oganesyan, brothers Tommy and Gary Rubenyan and David Kopushyan—a chef trained at Thomas Keller’s French Laundry—set out to bring the perfect hot chicken sandwich to the world at a pop-up stand in an East Hollywood parking lot.

Since then, their brand, Dave’s Hot Chicken, has mushroomed around North America, with more than 60 franchised locations across the U.S. and Canada and 700 more in the development pipeline. It helps that celebrities including Drake and Samuel L. Jackson have stepped in as backers.

Dave’s saw 262% total sales growth in 2021 compared to the previous year, the company reported. 

The brand promoted itself early on through social media. Its Instagram feed is dominated by the orange-red crust of the chicken tenders in its star sandwich, offered at seven levels of heat ranging from “No Spice” to “The Reaper.” 

Dave's has also seen 31-plus million views of organic, user-generated TikTok videos with the Dave’s Hot Chicken hashtag, according to the brand. Meanwhile, Dave's gets playful on its own and recently doled out punishment to R&B star Usher, condemning him to eat "The Reaper" for being late to pick up his kids.