Dave's Hot Chicken — Restaurant in Toronto

Look look look look at this, somebody come look at this! Kevin Hart Voice Wanted to start my first meal of 2022 w/ something different. Have never been the type to come online and complain BUT I am compelled to share my dreary experience here.. I drove 30 mins one way here with friends, were all super excited to try this spot. Walk in there and heavily drake influenced designs on the walls "best I ever had" and "Hotline bling" signage, obviously trying to appeal to the younger generation of Toronto, but no complaints because who doesn't like Drake?! No social distancing happening in here AT ALL, line up is crowded and unregulated in terms of how many people are clogging up this little spot. With the combination of people eating inside and long lines this place is far too small to accommodate both. Two employees in the back, I can clearly see wearing their mask wayyy under their nose the entire time but didn't say anything lol... Gives you an idea of how strict COVID protocols are in a place you are in for only a short time... My two friends ordered 3 seperate combo's.. I ordered one Combo #3, I also added one additional slider for $7.99, and one single tender for $5.99 and a poutine for $6.99. I figured sliders are usually small so let me get another alongside an extra tender, was super hungry. For me alone the bill was $41.76. I wasn't trippin, I was excited to go home and dig in! When I opened my boxes... Firstly, My order was completely incorrect, I was missing my extra Slider that I paid extra for and instead got a tender (which is less $, SEE BILL PHOTO) and I was missing my Kale Slaw side that is supposed to come alongside my combo... Secondly, The presentation of the food in the box is extremely poor.. Like chicken just slopped on a slice of wonder bread..sauce thrown all over.. I didn't even eat the slices of bread as it was just soggy and unappetizing. I stopped eating sliced wonder bread when I was a child, not about to start now. Looking at my plate of 3 chicken tenders and a single slider I paid $42 bucks for... In end, not worth the hype, literal marketing hype, can't believe what people will line up for this take out, all because of the hype. I could have literally sat down at a Moxies or Milestone and had a fresh pasta and a glass of wine with full service for about the same $, not to mention what my 2 friends spent too ..lol and I'm not hating on fried chicken, I actually love Jollibee's. Verdict for me, is Dave's Hot Chicken = Hot Trash, sadly. Would...

Wow! I am so happily pleased with my experience here! Starting off with the service, our cashier was so nice and kind. I think her name was Sanny? But she was really sweet and even brought our food to our table for us. I would say it was exceptional service especially for a “fast food” place. While we were eating, an older gentleman (I am assuming the manager?) came by to ask us if everything was okay. I swear I don’t even get this kind of service at fancy places! Moving onto the food, it was so fresh and the portions were huge in my opinion! I got the #3 which came with a tender, slider and fries. I barely finished the slider and ate half of the fries. I had to take the rest home! The piece of chicken was almost double the size of the bread! And the fries were omg perfection. Probably the best fries I’ve had, and dipped in the cheese sauce made it a million times better. I liked the handful of pickles they gave as well, it helped to cut through the grease. I will definitely come here again and recommend this location specifically! My only critique is that I wish the tables were cleaned more but I understand that the cashier was busy and only got a chance to clean them after she was done serving the customers. So it is not her fault at all, maybe as customers we should clean up after...

Location & parking: Good spot not to out of the way and decently accessible, looks like there is street parking which is a bit of a pain considering you will already be overpaying for food

Service: Service was fantastic, staff at the front had an amazing attitude and were very attentive with the order. Got all the food out in a timely manner .

Atmosphere: It was decently clean inside, not super busy. Just a typical food spot nothing special or interesting about it, although it was a tad bit cold inside.

Food: Unfortunately the food was the worst part. Now i don't mind paying a bit more for quality food but the price did not match up to the meal. The chicken was mid at best, nothing to write home about, it was served on 2 bland pieces of plain white bread, the fries were probably the best part good flavor and decently seasoned, what really ruined it for me was the milkshake, it felt like i was drinking thick whip cream, honestly wouldn't even consider it a milkshake, and considering everything came out to over 30 bucks, there are an insane amount of far superior options for food in the areas where you will end up spending the same or even less for a better experience.

I would have given 3 stars cause everything was pretty lackluster and average but the milkshake was...