Drake Believes In God's Plan For This Hot Chicken Chain

The celebrity stamp of approval is a pretty huge deal for a restauranteur. And a stamp of approval from a chart-topping rapper like Drake? That's a game-changer. Los Angeles-based restaurant chain Dave's Hot Chicken is the latest to cater to celebrity cravings: Food & Wine reports that Drake has taken on a significant ownership stake in the chain.

Dave's Hot Chicken appears to be enjoying an astronomical spike in popularity, with existing investors including Samuel L. Jackson and Tom Werner, the latter being the chairman of the Boston Red Sox. Bloomberg reports that Drake decided to become one of the chain's largest investors after sampling the goods. "I tried the food, and it was amazing," Drake said. "After meeting the founders and hearing their story I jumped at the opportunity to invest."

The chain's menu includes hot chicken tenders, which are sold at seven spice level ranging from "No Spice" to "Reaper." (Food & Wine reports that the latter "requires a signed waiver for those who dare.") Dave's Hot Chicken is a relative newcomer to the dining scene, starting as a parking lot pop-up in 2017. By 2019, the founders had a franchising deal, and Dave's currently has 22 locations in California, Las Vegas, Chicago, Dallas, and Portland. That's plenty impressive, and it doesn't even include the fact that the chain sold franchising rights for more than 500 future locations across the U.S. and Canada.

This certainly isn't the first time Drake has invested in a food brand. He helped launch a champagne brand back in 2019 and may or may not have officially partnered with a Canadian salad brand the year before that. But we can confirm that this is the first time the rapper has invested in a company that requires customers to sign a waiver when they order spicy goods. To those who are brave enough to order the spiciest tenders, we say: Laugh Now, Cry Later.