Dave's debut

Drake-approved hot chicken restaurant sets opening date for first Houston location

Drake's favorite destination for Nashville-style hot chicken makes its Bayou City debut this week. Dave's Hot Chicken will open its first Houston-area location this Friday, September 24 in west Houston (12161 Westheimer Rd.).

Founded in 2017 by Dave Kopushyan — a classically trained chef and veteran of Thomas Keller’s Bouchon restaurant — Dave’s serves halal chicken tenders and sandwiches at seven difference spice levels that each has their own recipes. The menu also includes sides such as kale slaw, mac and cheese, crispy fries, and cheese fries, as well as milkshakes.

Initially opened as a food truck, Dave’s has grown to multiple brick and mortar locations across Southern California. This week, the company announced that hip-hop superstar Drake has become one of its largest investors.

“I tried the food and it was amazing,” Drake said in a statement. “After meeting the founders and hearing their story, I jumped at the opportunity to invest.”

So far, the company has signed leases for six Houston-area restaurants and is negotiating for even more. In addition to the Westchase store, the company will open at the following locations:

2525 Rice Blvd. (co-tenancy with Velvet Taco)
614 Dennis St. (The Crossing at Midtown)
6324 Highway 6 South (Missouri City)
15245 Wallisville Rd.
20740 Kuykendahl Rd. (Spring)
148 El Dorado Blvd. (Webster)

A representative tells CultureMap that the Midtown location will open next in late October or early November. Rice Village and Wallisville Road will follow by the end of the year. As seen in the photo above, Dave's works with local graffiti artists to decor each store, which gives each one a distinct look.

Dave's opens in Houston on Friday.

Courtesy of Dave's Hot Chicken

Dave's opens in Houston on Friday.

news-you-can-eat openings

sudden cupcake shutter

Cupcake pioneer Sprinkles shutters all locations, including one in Houston

Photo courtesy of Sprinkles

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A nationwide cupcake bakery has shuttered all of its locations, including in Houston. Sprinkles Cupcakes closed all of its locations on December 31, according to multiple media reports.

The company provided a brief statement about the closures to TV station KTLA: “After thoughtful consideration, we’ve made the very difficult decision to transition away from operating company-owned Sprinkles bakeries.”

Founder Candace Nelson shared her own thoughts about the news via a post on Instagram. After noting that she sold the business to private equity in 2012, Nelson stated she was disappointed by the decision.

“Even though I sold the company over a decade ago, I still have such a personal connection to it, and this isn’t how I thought the story would go. I thought Sprinkles would keep growing and be around forever,” she says in the clip.

The bakery had 20 locations in six states. In Houston, Sprinkles had one location in Rice Village that opened in 2021 (2563 Amherst St.). A Highland Village location that opened in 2010 had already closed.

It also operated stores in Austin (3120 Palm Way), Dallas (4020 Villanova), and Plano (7500 Windrose Avenue) and cupcake ATMs at other spots statewide, including one in The Woodlands Market Street district.

Sprinkles was widely credited for creating the cupcake craze of the late aughts and early 2010s. Founded by Nelson in 2005, the shop's treats elevated the form with high quality ingredients, a wide range of flavors, and the sort of eye-catching designs that would be now be described as Instagram-worthy — but Sprinkles predates the app’s creation. It introduced a number of innovations, including a cupcake ATM to satisfy cravings 24-hours-a-day.

As for Nelson, she pivoted to Pizzana, an Italian-style pizzeria she co-founded with her husband Charles, actor Chris O’Donnell and his wife Caroline, and chef Daniele Uditi. The restaurant, which holds a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide for its original outpost in Los Angeles, has a Dallas location that opened in 2022 and a Houston store that opened in 2024.

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