With chicken sandwiches being all the rage recently, I decided to review a different chicken restaurant aside from the typical Chick-Fil-A, Popeyes, and McDonald’s sandwiches.

Dave’s Hot Chicken is a fairly new chicken franchise, being founded in 2017. The restaurant has amassed over 100 locations, including the one I went to on Garnett Avenue in Pacific Beach. It is also very easy to reach using the Blue Line Balboa Avenue trolley station and taking either the 8 or 27 buses, both of which leave you a short walk from the restaurant .

Upon entering the restaurant, you are greeted by an interior decorated to fit the vibe of the beach location and provides an interesting and visually entertaining atmosphere that really sets it apart from other restaurants.

When it comes time to order, the menu is very simple because there are only 3 combos to choose from: 2 chicken tenders with fries, 2 chicken sliders with fries, or one of each. Some may take issue with their lack of options, but I find the simplified menu quite refreshing. As a benefit it saves you from the mental anguish of having to decide what you want and getting to the register before you know what you want to order. You also get to pick the spice level of your chicken, which ranges from the lowest being “no spice” to the highest being “Reaper.”

The service of the staff was excellent; they were very quick, efficient and friendly. I also got the food in less than 10 minutes, which is probably an advantage to the simple menu.

I chose the 2 chicken sliders and fries with the mild spice. The chicken was well seasoned, well cooked, and had just the right amount of crispy. Even though I ordered it mild, the chicken was still quite spicy, which is to be expected from a hot chicken restaurant. Although they are called “sliders” that usually implies something smaller than a regular sandwich, the portions of the chicken were very good for there being two sliders in the one order. The fries were also very good particularly, when dipped in the restaurant’s specialty sauce, that is suspiciously similar to Chick-Fil-A’s own Chick-Fil-A sauce.

Overall, I would rate Dave’s Hot Chicken a 9/10. The whole experience was very good, with excellent customer service, great food, and great value for money, as well. The location next to the beach also provides a great atmosphere for a night out to get some food.