Dave’s Hot Chicken has officially posted its opening date for its long-anticipated Rockville Pike location. A sign now posted on the front door of the restaurant at 11564 Rockville Pike states that the location is closed for training and will open on Thursday, December 18.
The Rockville store is located in the Metro Pike Shopping Center and is taking over the former McDonald’s space, which relocated earlier this year to the former Arby’s building farther north on Rockville Pike. Construction has been ongoing for several months, with visible progress picking up this fall.
Last week, a representative from Dave’s Hot Chicken’s White Oak location told us the Rockville opening was expected in “about two weeks” and would land just a couple days before Christmas. The newly posted signage now confirms that timeline.
This will be Dave’s Hot Chicken’s second location in Montgomery County, following the opening of its White Oak restaurant in November 2024. The California-based chain began as a late-night food stand in Los Angeles in 2017 and has since expanded to more than 100 locations nationwide, helped along by celebrity investors including Drake and Samuel L. Jackson.
The menu focuses on Nashville-style hot chicken tenders and sliders, with heat levels ranging from “Lite Mild” all the way up to the famously intense “Reaper.” Sides include crinkle-cut fries, mac and cheese, and milkshakes. Dave’s Hot Chicken opened its first DMV-area location in Washington, DC’s Columbia Heights neighborhood in March 2023 and has continued to expand rapidly throughout the region.
