Dave's Hot Chicken — Restaurant in Enterprise

Update:

I thought, hey, maybe Dave’s Hot Chicken just had an off day last time. Nope — turns out “off day” is their permanent business model. They managed to completely lose my order, then made me wait over 30 minutes for… wait for it… a small top-loaded fries. Impressive, really — it takes real talent to mess up something that simple.

When I told the manager, she reacted with all the enthusiasm of a houseplant. No apology, no urgency, just that “why are you talking to me?” look. Gold-star leadership right there.

Oh, and here’s a fun bonus — check the tip amount before you hit pay. When I tipped 10% for a fast food order, it magically charged me 20%. Happened twice. I don’t know if that’s illegal, but I cancelled it and entered my tip manually both times. Nothing says “customer appreciation” like trying to quietly double your tip without telling you.

The girl at the counter was great, but the kitchen? That’s a whole different comedy show. Back there it’s like a live-action sitcom where nobody knows their lines, and the joke is always on the customer. This location isn’t just bad — it’s a masterclass in how not to run a restaurant.

If mediocrity had an address, it’d be right here.

Dave’s Hot Chicken isn’t a restaurant. It’s a daycare center with deep fryers. I walked in hoping for some good food, and instead walked into a live-action episode of Clueless: Fast Food Edition. Behind the counter? A bunch of kids—literally kids—laughing, screwing around, and treating their shift like a group hangout at the mall. Zero urgency, zero training, and absolutely zero respect for the customers.

They took 27 minutes—yes, I timed it—for a basic order. Not because they were busy. No, because they were too busy giggling, flirting, and talking about their weekend plans while orders stacked up and people waited like fools. Watching them try to “work” was like watching a group project where everyone failed and still showed up for the participation trophy.

There was no leadership, no accountability, and clearly no hiring standards beyond “Can you breathe? You’re hired.” The entire operation was a mess—food coming out wrong, names being called that didn’t match anyone in the building, and not a single apology or ounce of professionalism in sight.

When my food finally showed up, it was soggy and sad—much like the staff’s work ethic. I wouldn’t be surprised if the chicken was embarrassed to be associated with this place.

Dave—whoever you are—if this is your vision, shut it down. You’ve built a monument to incompetence. Go flip burgers somewhere else and spare the world this insult of an “establishment.”

Do yourself a favor: go anywhere...

I'm really excited to have a new chicken place on the Southwest side of town, and Dave's Hot Chicken (and its brightly painted exterior) is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. This is a fast casual spot with fair prices and good food.

A couple of things I really didn't like about this place.

First, there is very limited seating. For a restaurant that has a large space, they need to have about twice as many tables. We had to walk around with our trays of food trying to find a spot to sit to eat. Our food grew increasingly cold until we finally found a place.

Second, they have one of those dreaded "it's going to ask you a question" tip screens. This felt particularly offensive here for several reasons. One, you place your own order, pick up your own food, and clean your own table. So, uh, what am I tipping you for? Also, the tables were very dirty, but they do provide a pack of cleaning wipes that you can use to clean your own table. Again, no way I'm tipping for that!

I opted for the chicken sandwich with fries. All of the ingredients were high quality, from the soft and fresh bun (it had that perfect "squish" to it) to the tangy slaw and excellent pickles, I have zero complains on the taste of my meal. The sandwich was plenty big, and the side of fries was large too. I think you could share a meal here, especially if you got the slider and tenders combo.

As someone with an aversion to spicy food, I ordered the mild spice. The flavor was excellent, but I could honestly have withstood a little more heat. I think I'll move up a notch or two on the scale next time I go. I really loved the seasoning and spice on the crinkle cut fries, it elevated them from being just plain old boring fried potatoes.

Flavor-wise and quality-wise, Dave's is one of the better chicken joints in town. Parking is free and easy and the food is fairly priced for the quality and portion size. Just add some more seating and take away that annoying tip screen and it would be a solid...

I have a pretty consistent rule that even if I like your food, if you do something that causes me to say, "I won't be back!", you get the lowest rating I can give you because it doesn't get worse than completely losing someone's business and leaving them annoyed enough to write about it.

This happened for me today at Dave's Hot Chicken. I have liked their food since my first visit several years ago. I visit probably once a month and I have recommended them to friends. In the currently oversaturated world of chicken strips and sandwiches, there are now many choices. Here is a list of places that have never charged me anything for extra sauce: Chick-fil-a, Super Chix, Zaxby's & even the overpriced Crack Shack. I'm fairly certain that I haven't been charged at Houston's or Hattie B's but it's been a while so I'm not certain. I hadn't been charged at Dave's, even the airport location until today. They charged my $.75 for an extra packet of Dave's sauce. A packet, not even a cup. I dip my fries in it as well and actually like it, unlike that nasty stuff that Raising Caine's has. $.75 for one packet. Like I said, I like their food but they managed to hit their tipping point. I would also never patronize a casino that charged me to park and then expected me to lose money gambling. I'm all about consistency. So long Dave's Hot Chicken 👎

Response to owner's response: I'm not sure what more there is to discuss. I laid it out pretty clearly here. I'll respond through the website you posted here but if you just throw some free food at me but continue to charge for packets of your sauce, my...