Hot Chicken Takeover is an American fast casual

fried chicken Fried chicken, also known as Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or ...

restaurant chain in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

that specializes in

Nashville hot chicken Hot chicken (or Nashville hot chicken) is a type of fried chicken that is a local specialty of Nashville, Tennessee, in the United States. In its typical preparation, it is a portion of breast, thigh, or wing that has been marinated in a wat ...

History

Founder Joe DeLoss started the company after visiting

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

and being introduced to the local specialty

hot chicken Hot chicken (or Nashville hot chicken) is a type of fried chicken that is a local specialty of Nashville, Tennessee, in the United States. In its typical preparation, it is a portion of breast, thigh, or wing that has been marinated in a wate ...

in 2013. The company was initially founded as a pop-up restaurant in April 2014, before launching a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

campaign on

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

later that year to fund the purchase of a

food truck A food truck is a large motorized vehicle (such as a van) or trailer, equipped to cook, prepare, serve, and/or sell food. Some, including ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food; others have on-board kitchens and prepare food from scratc ...

Employment policies

The company received significant media coverage for its stated mission of being a "fair chance employer" that provides job opportunities to formerly incarcerated people who are reentering the workforce and other individuals who are not otherwise able to find work. In 2016, over 70% of Hot Chicken Takeover employees were formerly incarcerated or formerly affected by homelessness. Founder Joe DeLoss has stated that workers with former criminal histories are better and more reliable employees than others, and that the company employs anyone with "an orientation towards personal growth and a willingness to respond to coaching". The company also provides various free professional development initiatives for its employees such as financial literacy training and private personal counseling, as well as emergency 0% payday loans or cash support so that employees are not at risk of predatory lenders.

Locations

, Hot Chicken Takeover has three locations in

. The first location is in the historic

North Market North Market is a food hall and public market in Columbus, Ohio. The Downtown Columbus market was established in 1876, and was the second of four founded in Columbus. The market is managed by the non-profit North Market Development Authority (N ...

building in downtown Columbus, the second is located in the Clintonville neighborhood and the newest location is at Easton Gateway in Easton Town Center. The company also continues to own a food truck, which has previously been voted "Best Food Truck in Columbus" by the readers of local news blog Columbus Underground in 2015 and 2016. In 2019, they made their

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

area debut, opening a new location at

Crocker Park Crocker Park is a lifestyle center (retail), lifestyle center and mixed-use development in Westlake, Ohio. With the first phase opened in 2004, the center comprises of retail, 650 residential units, and of office space. History The $200 million ...

in the western suburb of

Westlake Westlake may refer to: Places Australia * Westlake, Canberra, a ghost town suburb of Canberra * Westlake, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane New Zealand * Westlake, New Zealand, a suburb of Auckland ** Westlake Girls High School ** Westlake Boys ...

. Joe DeLoss announced plans in a 2016 interview to expand via

franchising Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busine ...

References

External links

* 2014 establishments in Ohio Companies based in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area Chicken chains of the United States Restaurants established in 2014 Restaurants in Ohio {{Restaurants in Ohio