Spicing up Midtown

Celebrity-backed hot chicken restaurant debuts first Inner Loop location

A California-based hot chicken sensation makes its Inner Loop debut this week. Dave's Hot Chicken will open its Midtown location (614 Dennis St.) this Friday, November 19 at 11 am.

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. The menu also includes sides such as kale slaw, mac & cheese, crispy fries, and cheese fries, as well as milkshakes.

Initially opened as a food truck by Kopushyan and three friends, Dave’s has grown to multiple brick and mortar locations across Southern California and a location in west Houston that opened in September. The company counts a number of celebrities among its investors including Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner, actor Samuel L. Jackson, NFL Hall of Famer and broadcaster Michael Strahan, and hip hop superstar Drake.

Earlier this year, Brian Wells of local franchisee Dos Niños Enterprises, LLC told CultureMap that the company has signed leases for locations in Rice Village, Missouri City, Spring, and northeast Houston. A seventh location will open in Webster at 148 El Dorado Blvd, according to a press release from Edge Realty Partners.

"Our founders started Dave’s as a parking lot pop-up restaurant in Hollywood with a portable fryer and picnic tables from their backyards just four short years ago," Bill Phelps, Dave’s Hot Chicken’s CEO, in a statement. "We are ecstatic to be opening our newest restaurant in Houston!"

Dave's Midtown location will be open from Monday-Thursday from 11 am to 11 pm and Friday-Sunday from 11 am to midnight.

Dave's debuts in Midtown this week.

Dave's Hot Chicken Houston Midtown Exterior

Courtesy of Dave's Hot Chicken

Dave's debuts in Midtown this week.

news-you-can-eat openings

a spoonful of sugar

New Mexican eatery sweetens Houston with 150 spirits and bold flavors

Courtesy of Mexican Sugar

Mexican Sugar is coming to Regent Square in December.

A Dallas-based Mexican restaurant is coming to Houston. Mexican Sugar will open its first Houston location in Montrose this December.

Located next to Georgia James in the Regent Square mixed-use development, Mexican Sugar will occupy a two-story, 13,000-square-foot building. All that room offers seating for 375 as well as two private dining rooms with full audio-visual capabilities. Both the upstairs and downstairs patios will have a view of nearby Buffalo Bayou Park.

Its part of FB Society, the Dallas-based hospitality group behind Whiskey Cake, Sixty Vines, and Haywire, the Texas-inspired comfort food restaurant that opened its first Houston-area location earlier this year. Mexican Sugar has three locations in the Dallas area: Plano, Las Colinas, and Uptown Dallas.

In a release, Mexican Sugar touts its use of seasonal ingredients. It also makes its tortillas by hand. Menu highlights include skirt steak, lobster fundido, and a bone-in pork chop. At brunch, look for options such as cajeta French toast, Benedictos Rancheros, and vanilla-cinnamon pancakes.

Agave fans will find plenty of choices courtesy of more the 150 tequilas and mezcals. They’re available in individual pours as well as in flights that allow customers to compare the flavors of the different spirits.

“Our goal is to create a dining experience that blends bold Mexican flavors with our signature style of hospitality that stays two steps ahead,” Justin Beam, Mexican Sugar’s director of operations, said in a statement. “We’re excited to offer Houstonians an immersive Mexican experience in a fresh, light, and approachable way.”

Courtesy of Mexican Sugar

Mexican Sugar is coming to Regent Square in December.

news-you-can-eat openings mexican sugar