With 20 stores across eight states – and 300 franchise commitments on the horizon – HHC’s momentum comes from its consistency of flavor, decor and style
Houston TX Hot Chicken is known for its spicy chicken — and spicy walls. Across all its stores, the hot chicken hotspot’s decor has homed in on a sleek, edgy, pop art vibe.
Its signature style came to life when HHC founder Edmond Barseghian commissioned Donovan Fitzgerald, a Las Vegas artist, to create HHC’s murals and paintings.
“I first met Edmond when he hired me for a personal project a few years back. We got along well from the start since we’re both funny and eccentric in different ways,” said Fitzgerald, who studied Italian baroque painting in his schooling. “Most of my work is more traditional, classical oil paintings, so it’s been fun and rewarding to have a departure from my norm and create HHC’s vibe alongside Edmond’s vision.”
And so it began: Restaurant artwork that is chic and elevated — with a touch of playful humor. There’s a golden rooster. There’s the woman in an evening gown with a helmet on fire. There’s a race car driver with a rooster on its head. And there’s the oversized mural of a woman with sunglasses all aflame.
The nod to exotic cars stems from Barseghian’s career as an automotive influencer and race car driver. Hot chicken and hot wheels felt like the perfect partnership — and every HHC grand opening includes an exotic car meet and greet.
“I’ve always been into cars, and it’s been incredibly fun to pay homage to the fast and furious world of race car driving. It’s been especially fitting for HHC, which is a brand moving and growing at a 200 mph,” said Barseghian, who has been racing cars for over five years now. “Success comes from passion, authenticity, and quality. No matter how big HHC gets, that’s a road we will never detour from.”
HHC is experiencing a spread of momentous milestones: Its loyalty app launched this past August. Its 20th location will open in San Diego September 21. And it has 300 franchise commitments with a plan to have 75 opened stores by the end of 2025.
In 2023, HHC entered into a growth partnership with Savory Fund, which invests in emerging restaurant concepts and is currently growing 10 brands with operations in 16 states. This strategic partnership will help fuel HHC’s expansion on both a corporate and franchise level.
Founded in 2021, Houston TX Hot Chicken (HHC) prides itself on serving all natural and never frozen chicken to its guests. With a menu that features hot chicken in the form of sandwiches, tenders and more, HHC offers high quality food alongside an exciting and elevated service standard. In recent years, the restaurant group has experienced rapid growth with locations nationwide in Arizona, California, Nevada, Washington, Texas, Utah, Idaho, Michigan and has plans to continue opening new locations across the country, with the help of its growth partnership with Savory Fund. Learn more at HHC.ooo.
Savory Fund is an innovative private equity firm that combines over $750 million in assets under management with a growth playbook and expertise that has been developed over 15 years of operating in the restaurant industry. Savory partners with high-potential, profitable, emerging restaurant brands, to deliver financial capital, industry expertise, growth and revenue opportunities, profitability enhancements and new location development. The Savory team contributes directly to all aspects of growth and replication by using a proven playbook and methodology. Founder involvement in the expansion of a brand is a central theme of the Savory approach as founders carry the tribal knowledge around the uniqueness that has energized early success and is essential to future growth. The Savory Fund is currently invested in 11 brands: Swig, R&R BBQ, PINCHO, Via 313 Pizzeria, Houston TX Hot Chicken, Mo’ Bettahs Hawaiian Style Food, Saigon Hustle, Hash Kitchen, The Sicilian Butcher, South Block and restaurant tech investment 86 Repairs. For more information, visit SavoryFund.com.
