Dave’s Hot Chicken, the cult U.S. chicken chain, specialising in Nashville-style hot chicken, finally opened its doors for business in London on Saturday, 07 December 2024 to huge consumer excitement.
The brand is famous for its spiced-to-order chicken with seven levels of spice, ranging from No Spice to Reaper, which requires a signed waiver from guests. It’s also known for its jumbo hot chicken sliders, tenders and bites, which are served alongside house-made kale slaw, creamy mac & cheese and crispy, seasoned french fries.
So, what makes Dave’s Hot Chicken so hot, and what is the brand doing to ensure it continues to rule the roost? In this video, the technology team talks about their partnership with QSR Automations and how intrinsic the implementation of QSR Automations' ConnectSmart® Kitchen technology is to the brand’s ongoing success and growth plans.
“What makes Dave’s Hot Chicken so hot is the food. It is all centred around the food - the freshness of the food, the taste of the spice levels, even the hottest spice levels have flavour, so it is not all about heat,” explains Leon Davoyan, Chief Technology Officer at Dave’s Hot Kitchen.
“We chose QSR Automations because we wanted technology in the kitchen which is dynamic. We need to be able to plan for the future, so it is important to us to have a system which is feature rich. Due to how flexible the technology is, it allows us to have integrations layered with our other systems, while also being able to customise everything to fit our exact needs and operation, which is a really big win for us.”
“Restaurant technology plays a huge role in growth. If you have the right tech-stack in place, it helps you to grow exponentially faster. We look for technology which is not only good for now, but also good for 1,000 stores and beyond. So, when we shop for technology, we’re looking for the end goal and not for what’s right for right now.”
Ask any chef and they’ll tell you how important order accuracy is to a restaurant business with dine-in and take-out service options for guests. “Put simply, the QSR Automations’ system has made our order accuracy more accurate and efficient. Currently, we have ‘The Order Board’ so if drivers come in for a collection, or guests have purchased online, they can see at a quick glance against their name, the status of their order - whether that be ready or making,” explains Steven Ledesma, Senior Manager of IT at Dave’s Hot Chicken.
Dave’s Hot Chicken is a business constantly looking at ways in which they can use technology to drive the guest experience, while fulfilling their expectations. Davoyan explains: “Currently, we’re testing dynamic quote times at three of our locations so that we can match the order ready time, exactly to when the guest arrives. This way, we’re setting their expectations. For example, during a busy Friday night, we could very easily have a 45 minute ticket time, not because we’re running slowly, but because we make the food from fresh when the order comes in.”
Training and indeed the adoption of new technology among team members, can be a blessing or a curse for operators. So, what are the key benefits of ConnectSmart Kitchen® when it comes to the training of kitchen teams? “It has been so easy because it is more efficient and consistent to use against previous systems. It literally takes a minute,” Ledesma explains: Davoyan continues: “It probably takes 30-seconds to one minute to learn the day-to-day functions and 30 minutes to learn the advanced functions of the technology, such as prioritising orders and re-calling. It is a very quick and intuitive system for the teams to learn how to use.”
So, what does the future hold for Dave’s Hot Kitchen? “We’re focusing on the guest, their journey and experience. Then, we’re going to build on that to ensure that journey is so much better with the use of technology.”
To find out more about how ConnectSmart® Kitchen can help to efficiently run your back-of-house operations and scale your brand, visit ConnectSmart® Kitchen or call 020 3870 4571.
