Hip-hop superstar Drake giving away hot chicken sliders to celebrate his birthday

LAS VEGAS — Singer Drake turns 38 on Thursday. But he’s the one giving gifts.

The Billboard Artist of the Decade for the 2010s is an investor in Dave’s Hot Chicken, the fast-growing chain of Nashville-style hot chicken restaurants. To celebrate his birthday, Drake is gifting everyone free Dave’s Hot Chicken sliders on Thursday, the company announced.

To receive the slider — more of a full-size sandwich — folks need to download the Dave’s Hot Chicken app, visit their local restaurant, then scan the reward at the checkout register. The celebration runs from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and is good only for in-person visits, not ordering online or through third-party delivery services.

The slider is served on a potato bun with slaw and pickles and drizzled with Dave’s sauce. The restaurant specializes in sliders, tenders and bites, at heat levels ranging from no spice to Reaper (which requires a signed waiver).

Parking lot poultry

Three childhood friends scraped together $900 to launch Dave’s Hot Chicken in 2017, hauling portable fryers and folding tables to an East Hollywood parking lot. The concept took off, and a bricks-and-mortar location in the neighborhood soon followed.

In 2019, the team closed a deal with Bill Phelps, co-founder and former CEO of Wetzel’s Pretzels, to begin franchising the Dave’s Hot Chicken concept. Today, Phelps is CEO of the company. As of publication, Dave’s website lists about 215 open locations in the U.S. across 30 states and Washington, D.C., and more than a dozen across Canada and the Middle East.

The company has sold the rights to more than 1,000 franchise locations in the U.S., Canada and the Middle East, with 80-plus restaurants planned to open this year.