Dave’s Hot Chicken, to open in the old Wendy’s on NE Sandy Blvd.
Nashville hot chicken, that spicy Southern export enjoyed by many, continues to be a presence in the Portland food scene, and soon you’ll be able to get it at a couple of new spots. International fast food chain Dave’s Hot Chicken and local fried chicken joint Baes Chicken are both set to open in NE Portland.
Dave’s Hot Chicken
I’ve been keeping an eye on permit developments regarding Dave’s Hot Chicken for over a year now. Things seemed kind of stuck for many months, then permitting unclogged earlier this past summer. I was over by the Les Schwab recently getting my flat tire fixed (no, it wasn’t part of that tire slashing mess in Roseway), and snapped the photo above.
Dave’s looks like it’s opening soon and they’ve done a lot of work in there, from electrical and plumbing, interior work, new bathrooms (the old ones needed an exorcism, frankly), and exterior work like moving some entrances around and re-striping the parking lot. It’s going to be good to have a solid tenant in there rather than a boarded up building, especially after some tragic things that happened a decade ago when it was a Wendy’s.
Dave’s Hot Chicken has a small, straightforward menu (kind of reminiscent of In N Out’s) with chicken available at varying spice levels, sides, and combo meals. Check out their menu, here.
It’s worth noting that they are opening up in a location that is fairly close to Basilisk at the Zipper building, home of truly epic fried chicken sandwiches. Dave’s is going to have to step it up to successfully compete with them.
Baes Fried Chicken
Photo credit: Baes Fried Chicken
Baes already has a few locations in the area: downtown, Westmoreland, and at the Moda Center. You may know that Bae’s is co-owned by Micah Camden (MMMCo), who has given us numerous successful brands such as SuperDeluxe, Blue Star Donuts, Little Big Burger, Boxer Ramen (now known simply as Boxer), and recently opened Kinnamon, among others. He owns Bae’s with Ndamukong Suh, an NFL free agent and Grant High alum.
Baes will open in the Alberta Alley project, a development from the aforementioned Suh (and his partners). As reported in a recent Bloomberg article, the project “will feature restaurants and businesses owned or run by people of color.” Papi Chulo’s and Deadstock Coffee will be in there along with Baes.
At Baes you can get fried chicken prepared in three ways: traditional, hot, or honey butter (aka “hot, really hot or not”). There are slides, sauces, and slushies; combos and even a salad! You can check out one of their menus, here. At the Alberta Abbey location, you’ll find them open 9am to 9pm every day; they plan to have a few dozen seats inside, and 16 outside.
So there you have it—be it a fast food meal or from a local chain, if you love Nashville Hot Chicken, this is good news. I look forward to seeing each place open, hopefully before the end of the year.
Dave’s Hot Chicken
2920 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
daveshotchicken.com | Instagram | Facebook
Baes Fried Chicken
3003 NE Alberta Street, Portland
baeschicken.com | Instagram | Facebook
Meg Cotner
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When is Dave’s on sandy opening up
Friday, October 21. They’ll be open 7-days a week from 11am to 11pm, except Fridays and Saturdays when they’ll be open until midnight.