Food & Beverage

Dave's Hot Chicken launches cauliflower sliders, bites

Photo: Dave's

January 8, 2024

Dave's Hot Chicken is launching its first core menu item — Dave's NOT Chicken — since the original parking lot pop-up opened nearly seven years ago. Dave's NOT Chicken, which includes cauliflower sliders and cauliflower bites, features hand-sliced cauliflower, seasoned and fried to order using the same spices as the company's hot chicken.

"For years, our fans have been asking us to make a meatless option that has all the flavor, crunch and spice of our Hot Chicken," Bill Phelps, Dave's Hot Chicken's CEO, said in a company press release. "After spending weeks in the test kitchen testing countless different products, just like the founders did back in the parking lot pop-up days, we've created a meat alternative that's so tasty, even our most dedicated Hot Chicken loyalists will want to try it."

Taking it a step further, various Dave's Hot Chicken restaurants have changed exterior signage to read, "Dave's NOT Chicken," adding Instagrammable backgrounds for fans of the cauliflower items. To highlight the menu items, Los Angeles-area residents may see a 3D billboard, featuring Dave, the company's mascot and the Not Chicken menu items. One of the most eye-catching billboards in the world, and previously utilized by brands such as Nike and Red Bull, the billboard is located at the Moxy Hotel, near the Crypto.com Arena and LA Convention Center, Phelps said.

Dave's has sold the rights to over 700 franchise locations in the U.S., Middle East and Canada and will open 90-plus locations this year.