Since launching seven years ago as a weekend-only pop-up in Columbus, Hot Chicken Takeover has continued to expand its reach throughout the state. With the recent opening of its Westerville location, there now are four stores in Central Ohio. Crocker Park, the first shop outside Greater Columbus, opened in late 2019.
Next up for the Columbus-based restaurant that specializes in Nashville hot chicken is Strongsville, specifically the Royalton Collection development on N. Royalton. The goal is to open in April.
“We’re excited to be in Strongsville and we’re excited to keep growing in the
community,” states Joe DeLoss, Founder and CEO. “We have a growth strategy plan for Northeast Ohio that includes suburban and city center opportunities. This plan is really contingent on the availability of real estate.”
Originally, the new Northeast Ohio location was to open back in fall, but Covid pushed those plans back. Not surprisingly, the global pandemic has forced management to reconsider the design and operation of some of its newest stores, explains Liz Dickey, Marketing Director.
“This location will be configured differently from our Crocker Park location,” she says. “The dining room is smaller in square footage. We’ve had to switch to doing carry-out only since March and that has worked well for us, so we decided to design our new interior to mimic the current trend that we’re seeing.”
Come spring, Hot Chicken Takeover fans in Northeast Ohio will have a third location from which to order. In addition to Crocker Park and Strongsville, the company announced plans to open a delivery-only kitchen downtown. The site was selected to improve accessibility for customers.
Don’t expect the Crocker Park and Strongsville locations to be the last in Northeast Ohio, promises Dickey. There’s still plenty of growth planned for the Buckeye State.
“We’re definitely looking for other sites on the east side for next year,” she says. “The next two years we’ll really be focusing on Ohio: Cleveland and Columbus. We’ve looked at other cities outside Ohio, but we really want to grow here first.”
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