Dave’s Hot Chicken has recently opened in the city centre to much fanfare – but I wasn’t blown away
What’s On Editor & Affiliates Lead
Dave’s Hot Chicken review in Birmingham(Image: Megan Archer-Fox)
I love a chicken takeaway – KFC, Wingers, Popeyes, a Maccies McChicken sandwich – it’s normally top of my list if anyone asks me what I fancy for tea.
So when Dave’s Hot Chicken moved into New Street – in the newly-named ‘Chicken Quarter’ – I knew I needed to try it. Not because of its celebrity status (its investors include Drake and Samuel L Jackson) but to see if the chicken was worth it.
Last Friday was date night, so my partner and I left the kids with our babysitter and ventured off into town. I was excited – I’d heard good things, and seen people lining up for DHC, so I was expecting top stuff.
Read more: 20 emotional pictures from Ozzy Osbourne’s funeral procession as fans say ‘we love you’
We arrived at 8pm, and a security guard directed us to a little queuing area outside. Let’s be real, there was plenty of room inside to queue, so I reckon this was more of a lure for potential diners if anything.
Dave’s Hot Chicken review in Birmingham(Image: Megan Archer-Fox)
We patiently queued outside though, behind a cordon, until we were shown in. All in all, it took about 10 minutes to get to the self-service screen from when we arrived – which was pretty good.
You could feel the buzz inside. It was busy, and people were snapping pictures of the funky chicken décor.
The menu is pretty simple – there are four meals (Dave’s #1, #2, #3 and #4) which are made up of either tenders or sliders and fries. You can pick from seven spice levels, from the lowest ‘no spice’ to the highest ‘reaper’.
You can then order sides like fries, cheese fries, mac n cheese, and Dave’s Bites. There are top-loaded shakes too with Lucky Charms, Oreos or M&Ms toppings. You can get standard soft drinks as well.
We wanted to try a few things so ordered a Dave’s #2 (for my partner) which was two sliders (he went for hot), a cheese fries upgrade and a Lucky Charms shake (£21.26 – I stumbled a bit when I saw the price for one meal, although it did come with two sliders).
I went for a Dave’s #3, a medium spiced slider and a tender with cheese fries also and a M&Ms shake (£18.57).
Dave’s Hot Chicken review in Birmingham(Image: Megan Archer-Fox)
Then we decided to order a side of Dave’s Bites (£6.99) to try them and a single hot tender too, as I wanted to try something spicier (£3.99).
All in all it was £50.91 – which was A LOT I thought for fast food.
And it was fast, it came out in about 10 minutes and we sat down to eat it. My first thought was that it looked like a lot of food. The single tender came with a piece of bread and also chips (which I think was a mistake) and the Dave’s Bites came with bread too.
They looked like meals in themselves, rather than sides.
Dave’s Hot Chicken review in Birmingham(Image: Megan Archer-Fox)
There were a few mistakes we realised when we sat down – the M&Ms shake I ordered actually came out as Oreos and my partner’s large Lucky Charms shake came out as a medium. But we were hungry, so we decided to just eat.
I took a few photos and dived into the cheesy fries, only to find they were cold – which was disappointing. I ate a few, and took a sip of my Oreo shake – which was nice but nothing hugely special.
The slider was the highlight for me – it was hot (for a start) and the chicken had a really lovely, warm n spicy flavour. The kale slaw added a welcome crunch and creaminess and the special Dave’s sauce was an added bonus on the side.
I have to admit though, it wasn’t out of this world different to some other chicken burgers I’ve tried. It was good, but I wasn’t blown away.
The Dave’s Bites were nice on the side, like big chunks of popcorn chicken – and I enjoyed the hot tender. I was pleased it wasn’t overly spicy, but had a nice warmness to it. I would stick with medium though if I came back.
But the chips being cold? And the wrong shake coming out? I’m not sure whether to put this down to teething issues (they opened a few weeks ago) or it being busy (although they should be able to cope with it being busy) or something else.
We didn’t finish all of our meal, and the sides of bread especially felt wasted, and I left a lot of my chips due their temperature. I ate the whole burger/slider though, which I did really enjoy.
I don’t think I’ll be back in a hurry. It’s hugely expensive for what you get, I think – and I’d honestly expect my food to be piping hot wherever I go.
This review was carried out independently and the restaurant did not know we were coming. The food was paid for by BirminghamLive.