Hot Tip: Dave’s Hot Chicken Coming to Pittsfield

Got a hot tip today, so I drove out to check it out myself. Word is Dave's Hot Chicken is opening a new spot at The Shops at Unkamet Brook in Pittsfield, right next to Ready, Set, Play.

I headed over to 685 Merrill Road to see what was going on. That building has quite a history. Papa Gino's operated there for 47 years before closing in October 2021. El Habanero Mexican Grill moved in after that in October 2022, but only lasted a couple of years.

Now the inside is torn up and under construction. I talked to one of the guys working the reconstruction crew, and he confirmed it: Dave's Hot Chicken is moving in.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get anymore information out of him, such as WHEN it will allegedly open.

If you haven't had it, Dave's started as a $900 parking lot stand in East Hollywood back in 2017. Four childhood friends, including head chef Dave Kopushyan, who trained under famous chef Thomas Keller, threw together some tables and a portable fryer and started selling one thing: hot chicken. It blew up online, lines wrapped around the block, and now Dave's has grown into a chain with hundreds of locations across the country and even overseas. -cnbc.com

Rapper Drake, actor Samuel L. Jackson, and retired football player Michael Strahan are all listed as investors or previous investors in the massive brand.

The chicken comes as tenders or sliders, and you pick your heat level, from "No Spice" all the way up to "The Reaper," which is hot enough that you actually have to sign a waiver to order it.

Massachusetts already has locations in Newton, Woburn, Saugus, Braintree, and Boston's South Bay, so Pittsfield would be the first spot out this way. New York and Connecticut also have locations as well.