Food & Drink
Blazing Birds: Why is Hot Chicken So Hot?
By Rob Smith December 26, 2024
A friend and I were recently discussing the hot-chicken craze when he asked, “why do we need more chicken places? They’re everywhere.” It piqued my curiosity, and a little research uncovered some interesting tidbits.
Thanks to Google, I discovered that the chicken wars began in earnest about four years ago, but its modern roots go much further back. The story actually begins in 2007, according to online publication The Bitter Southerner. That was the year the first Hot Chicken Festival was held in Nashville, Tenn. Hot chicken was previously made and sold primarily in that city’s Black neighborhoods.
Today, hot-chicken chains are popping up everywhere, in Seattle and elsewhere. California-crispy chicken chain Starbird recently announced that it was planning 15 locations across Seattle and two in Spokane. El Pollo Loco, which specializes in Mexican-style grilled chicken, is planning four restaurants in Pierce County and South King County. Crimson Coward, Jollibee, and Raising Cane’s have also targeted the city for expansion, joining local favorites such as Sisters and Brothers and Cookie’s Country Chicken, to name just two of many.
Shaquille O’Neal’s Big Chicken also recently opened in Climate Pledge Arena.
The chicken chains are charging ahead for one simple reason: Hot chicken is, well, hot right now.
A study by Placer.ai — a data firm that measures foot traffic, among other trends — says visits to fried chicken restaurants “have been on a major upward trend,” noting that visits in the third quarter of 2024 increased by 4.3% year over year, “far outpacing the performance of quick service and fast-casual restaurants.”
Visits to quick service chains (think Subway or Chick-fil-A) actually dropped by 1.3%. Visits to fast-casual restaurants (places such as Chipotle or Panera Bread) fell 2.4%. Yet visits to Dave’s Hot Chicken (the Seattle location is on East Pike Street) were up 12% in November alone. At Raising Cane’s — plans are to open a location in the University District early next year — November visits rose almost 10%. The report notes that even smaller chicken joints are “making a big splash.”
“Fried chicken concepts are likely to continue as a top growth segment in 2025,” the report notes.
This hen heatwave clearly shows no signs of slowing.
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