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    Dave's Hot Chicken

    2.9 (11 reviews)
    Open 11:00 am - 11:00 pm

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    Exterior
    Matthew L.

    Dave's Hot Chicken is a chain of fast-casual Nashville-style hot chicken restaurants that opened in Los Angeles, California in May 2017. It was founded by Armenian-American childhood friends Dave Kopushyan, Arman Oganesyan, and brothers Tommy and Gary Rubenyan. Kopushyan, the chain's namesake, was a professional chef trained by restaurateur Thomas Keller at three-Michelin-star restaurant The French Laundry. He and his friends had a dream to open their own Nashville-style hot chicken restaurant. After scraping together $900, they opened the first Dave's location which was nothing more than a street food stand in a parking lot. Following word of mouth in local publications and social media, the brand quickly took off. By the following year, the food stand had been replaced by a brick & mortar location at a nearby strip mall. Pretty soon, additional Dave's Hot Chicken locations began popping up all over California and beyond. As of 2025, there are over 300 locations in six countries. My family and I just visited the brand new Dave's Hot Chicken in Hamden, Connecticut for dinner. The Hamden location is the fifth one to open in Connecticut this year (following Milford, Newington, Southington and Stamford). We really liked the interior of Dave's, which featured street art on the walls: a feature that originated at the original Dave's location. I ordered the "1 Tender & 1 Slider w/ Fries" (served with kale slaw, pickles & Dave's sauce) and chose "Extra Hot" for my heat level, my wife had the "2 Sliders w/ Fries" and chose "Mild" heat, and our two sons both had the "2 Tenders w/ Fries" with no heat. We all had a delicious dinner!! We hope to be back again and again!

    Outside

    This is the new establishment that moved into the space where DiBella's used to be. Very vibrant and clean atmosphere, friendly and dutiful waitstaff. I liked the food overall. My top loaded fries were more enjoyable than I thought they would be. Chicken was juicy, tender and flavorful. Fries were crispy and well seasoned. Pickles were crunchy. Kale slaw was creamy and savory with fresh vegetables. Cheese sauce and Dave's sauce were both delicious. Next time I'm getting a large. The "chocolate" shake was a letdown, however. There was barely any chocolate flavor; it was 99% vanilla. The shake was decent for what it was, but why be skimpy on the chocolate? Despite the underwhelming shake, I liked my meal a lot. I look forward to trying their spice levels in the future. Great food.

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    Ask the Community - Dave's Hot Chicken

    Dave's Hot Chicken

    Dave's Hot Chicken

    2.3(3 reviews)
    0.0 mi

    Dave's just opened in the former location of Dibella's Subs in Hamden and this was our first time…read moretrying their chicken. It was delicious!! If you don't like spicy, there are options to get no spice, light mild, or mild. I had the medium which wasn't overly spicy either but perfect for my liking. There's also hot, extra hot, and Diablo if you really like it HOT. The fries alone were a 10/10; perfectly seasoned and crispy. They had plenty of staff working and the cashier explained the menu to us since it was our first time. We did have to wait a bit for our order but it was worth it. They clearly to a great job here! I recommend giving it a try. (They also have milkshakes and slushees which we did not order)

    I went to Dave's Hot Chicken for the first time thinking, "Let me try this new restaurant" at the…read moreHamden location. Let me tell you, it was one of the worst decisions I've made. I only ordered a 10-piece chicken meal with fries, and somehow it took over 30 minutes just to get my food. The staff had no idea where my order was. I literally had to ask, "Hey, are you guys even making my food?" After that, it still took another 10 minutes. Either this location is poorly managed or the staff seriously needs better training because they clearly don't know what they're doing. Very disappointing experience. I will never eat here again. I only put one star because it won't even let me put zero stars.

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    Dave's Hot Chicken
    Dave's Hot Chicken
    Dave's Hot Chicken

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    Cheeks Chicken and Waffles - 3 Piece Tenders and Waffle

    Cheeks Chicken and Waffles

    4.3(106 reviews)
    8.1 mi
    $

    I've said this before, but Cheeks Chicken and Waffles has done more for the development of my…read morelivelihood than any other establishment has done. The only reason I come back to Connecticut is not to see my friends, but only to taste those glorious chicken tenders and delicious waffles. Mo, as always, was an absolute stud and made sure it felt like we were the most important customers in the world. I am soon moving and am even offering to open up a new location in Oklahoma if it would be desired. I love it that much. Thank you Cheeks for everything!

    I had a really good lunch here recently. I've heard about this place for awhile and finally checked…read moreit out. I came i and was immediately pleasantly greeted with a smile. I ordered the wings and waffles and she mentioned it would be a bit as everything is made to order. I grabbed a table and the order came out in about 10 minutes. Not a long wait and totally worth it! The wings were hot...temperature hot. Very fresh! I let them cool for a bit and dug in. Excellent crisp and tender meat. I hit the waffle next and it was really good! Nice compliment to the chicken. There was a steady stream of customers who came in for lunch. At one point, the manager/owner (not sure here!) came out and chatted with everyone and acknowledged his repeat customers. He checked in on everyone, myself included and asked how the food was. Definately worth checking out! The inside is really cool; a nice vintage vibe.

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    Cheeks Chicken and Waffles
    Cheeks Chicken and Waffles
    Cheeks Chicken and Waffles

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    Raising Cane's - Chicken

    Raising Cane's

    3.6(23 reviews)
    10.6 mi

    While dropping my laptop off for repairs, I noticed this Raising Cane's on the right hand side of…read morethe street, It was absolutely unexpected since Raising Cane's usually is more out of the state because I remember having it in Pennsylvania. After dropping off my laptop, I got in my car and drove towards the Raising Cane's in Milford. Upon arriving towards the business the street to even enter into Raising Cane's is a hassle. It's a very busy intersection if you end up missing the turn on the main road. Upon entering this business, I was greeted by a young lady at the register and she was already very friendly, I gave my order and I went to go fill up my cup that I got with my "The Box" Combo. After that I sat down and waited for my food, It was a couple minutes but one of the workers was sweeping around the store so I sparked a conversation with them saying that I used to work fast food so I completely understand that they are just trying to keep the place nice and clean as the worker told me prior that she whipped everything down which I enjoyed. After that I was called up but my food wasn't there, so I just waited at the counter and the young lady that was on the register apologized to me about the inconvenience and I basically nodded and understood and let her know it's alright. As im waiting for my food to be given to me, I notice how the kitchen moves, the communication is a little lack luster which is unfortunate because I remember going to a Raising Cane's in Pennsylvania and the communication was on fire in that place. I feel like im giving them the benefit of the doubt since they just opened up recently in Milford. I was given my food and I went to sit down. Fries were cooked very well and crunchy for crinkle cut, which I enjoyed, a little salty but it was good when I dipped it in the signature Cane's sauce (Listen, hands down, best sauce out there). The texas toast was delicious as always and the chicken was decently cooked, one of which was a little hard to chew, but I had 3 good pieces which I couldn't complain about. Overall, I give this place a go around again and I will be returning when I come back to receive my laptop. Whoever actually had time to read this whole review, please please give this place a try, I know they just opened but just remember Connecticut never had a Raising Cane's so enjoy it while its there, the good reviews will potentially make Raising Cane's build more places around Connecticut, so try them out! -AJ

    Made the decision lap to try. Ordered uber eats for a big box of tenders. Would say that it is…read morethe juiciest, most tender and crunchy tenders I recall ever having. Not even oily. Like a great Popeye's place but just tenders only. Iz'm not a 12 year old who wants chicken tenders all the time and willing to wait 30min for fast food in line. And least the quality held up over the hype from other major chains that open up. Not a frequent customer to any major chain, I prefer trying local places. But I would buy from them again when all I want is some tenders!

    Photos
    Raising Cane's - Interior

    Interior

    Raising Cane's - 3 finger combos

    3 finger combos

    Raising Cane's - Large tenders at this location. Larger than what I get in Florida.

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    Large tenders at this location. Larger than what I get in Florida.

    Dave's Hot Chicken - halal - Updated August 2026

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