'Fastest Growing' Nashville Hot Chicken Chain Coming To Worcester

WORCESTER, MA — A rapidly expanding chain of Nashville hot chicken restaurants will soon expand to Worcester.

Dave's Hot Chicken — which has billed itself as "America's fastest growing restaurant chain" — has applied for a license to operate a restaurant at 41 Park Ave., according to this week's License Commission agenda. That address is the Trolley Square plaza, sandwiched between Park and Grove Street.

Dave's might also be the fastest-growing restaurant chain in Massachusetts. Over the past year, the chain has opened restaurants in Framingham and Braintree, but has seven other locations in the state in Boston (Dorchester and Chinatown), Saugus, Chelmsford, Woburn, Newton and Medford.

The chain only got its start in 2017 as a pop-up restaurant in a Hollywood parking lot. The musician Drake has invested heavily in the chain, helping it to expand to more than 30 other states and Washington, DC. Boston Red Sox owner Tom Werner has also invested in the chain.

The Worcester License Commission will hold a hearing on the restaurant Thursday morning. The restaurant is proposing hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, and 11 a.m. to midnight Thursday through Saturday.