Dave's Hot Chicken to open Tampa Bay flagship near USF
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jul 13, 2022

Dave’s Hot Chicken will open a Tampa Bay flagship store near the University of South Florida.

The Tampa Bay franchisees for Los Angeles-based Dave’s Hot Chicken — brothers Ian and Adam Lieberman — have signed a lease for 2,500 square feet in a shopping center at 2540 E. Fowler Ave. Dave’s Hot Chicken is taking over a portion of the space currently occupied by Mojo Books & Records.

Ian Lieberman told the Tampa Bay Business Journal that while the Fowler lease was signed first, that location may be the second to open due to construction complexities as the landlord subdivides the Mojo space. Negotiations are underway for spaces in Bradenton and Brandon, though Lieberman declined to disclose the properties he’s targeting.

The space is next door to the former University Mall, now known as RITHM @ Uptown, where a major redevelopment is in the works. The shopping center where Dave’s will open is also home to a Chipotle Mexican Grill that is among the chain’s best performing in the region, Lieberman said.

“We couldn’t be more excited to put a Dave’s there,” he said.

Dave’s Hot Chicken serves Nashville hot chicken on a simplified menu: chicken tenders — with a spice scale that ranges from no spice to reaper — with sides of macaroni and cheese, kale slaw, fries and cheese fries. Milkshakes are also on the menu.

Jeremy Kral and Eric Battistone of The Shopping Center Group are representing Dave’s Hot Chicken in its real estate search in the Tampa Bay area. Eventually, Lieberman said, Dave’s will open locations in South Tampa and Westshore.

“It’s a remarkably tight market,” Lieberman said. “It’s a lot of the same people looking at the same spaces. From a real estate standpoint, it’s daunting, and the cost of goods is making it harder to be profitable than ever before.”

The Liebermans, who are also Fuzzy’s Tacos franchisees, announced their Dave’s Hot Chicken venture in late 2021.