Hot Chicken Takeover is spreading its wings and flying to Powell. The Nashville-style chicken joint aims to open its fifth area location Thursday, November 10, at 8715 Owenfield Dr. in Lewis Center/Powell. This location will also serve a new, limited-time menu item —fried pickles!
HCT fans will find the fried chicken menu they know and love, including recent new permanent additions chicken tenders and fries (the spicy ranch is sticking around, too). Founder Joe DeLoss recommends fries dipped in the spicy ranch, and says the tenders have proven an especially popular order.
What DeLoss is particularly excited about in the new location is to get back to an HCT experience that was a critical piece of the restaurant’s early days – communal seating. The pandemic put a pause on the seating style that encouraged different groups of diners to sit right next to each other, but will be restored in the new location.
The Powell restaurant will also include a drive-thru, similar to HCT’s Westerville location.
Taking over the former home of Smashburger, it’s only the second time HCT is working within the footprint of an existing restaurant space (the other being the North Market). DeLoss says figuring out how to effectively reuse the space has presented a learning curve, but construction is underway with plans to open by the end of the year.
A few factors put HCT in the position to expand, despite the turbulence of the last few years. At the onset of the pandemic, the growing restaurant empire put scouting any new locations on hold.
“All of the expansion that had happened for us over the last two years were commitments we made pre-covid,” DeLoss says.
Now, he feels things have stabilized, both for HCT as a brand and in the broader community. New partnerships and an infusion of capital have put the restaurant back on the growth path.
“At this point we do have some other restaurants that we’re committed to and excited to get open,” DeLoss says.
Powell will be the first, but it won’t be the only.
“We’re really excited about a lot of areas in Columbus where we feel really confident that we’ve got a customer base and brand awareness,” he says.
After Powell, DeLoss teases two additional spots in Central Ohio – one more traditional, one not, with announcements in the coming weeks.
HCT recently flew the Ohio coop, opening its first location out of state. Through a connection through one of their partners, HCT opened up shop inside the JACX&CO Food Hall in New York City in May. DeLoss says it turns out people outside of Ohio like fried chicken as well, and he’s excited about how things are going at the NYC location.
NYC marked HCT’s seventh location overall, with four additional spots in Central Ohio – North Market, Clintonville, Westerville and Easton – and two in the Cleveland area.
For more information, visit hotchickentakeover.com.
This story was updated with the opening date information (11/7/2022)