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Former Twisted Root Burger near SMU will become a Nashville hot chicken restaurant

Hot Chicks is expected to open in March.

Yet another Nashville hot chicken restaurant will open in Dallas-Fort Worth when Hot Chicks debuts in March 2021 on SMU Boulevard in Dallas, near Southern Methodist University. After a fiery year in 2020, Nashville hot chicken continues to be trendy in Dallas in 2021.

Hot Chicks is — sorry in advance — coming in hot, with as many as five restaurants planned to debut within six months. The first Hot Chicks, in Plano, opened in mid-December. Dallas is the second. Other Hot Chicks are expected in Las Colinas, Arlington and Willow Park, a city 20 miles west of Fort Worth.

Sam Sameni, principal of One Entertainment Group and an SMU alum, says he thinks Nashville hot chicken is “pandemic proof.” His company is mostly in the bar and club business, operating Playground Bar (in Dallas and Fort Worth), Theory Nightclub and Cutie Pies Pizza, among a few others.

Hot Chicks sells grilled chicken tenders, called Fit Chick, for those who don't want fried.
Hot Chicks sells grilled chicken tenders, called Fit Chick, for those who don't want fried.(Courtesy of Hot Chicks)

“Overnight, seven of my businesses were shut down,” he says, speaking of March 2020. He was inspired by fast-casual restaurants, which seemed to be weathering the coronavirus pandemic better than sit-down restaurants or bars, in his opinion. Sameni had experience operating one restaurant, Brownstone in Fort Worth, which was open from 2010 to 2013.

“It was so complicated and I lost so much money,” Sameni says of Brownstone. “I promised myself I’d never do another restaurant. We’re going to make this one so incredibly simple that it doesn’t take a lot of moving parts to put out a great product.”

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Hot Chicks’ chicken comes two ways, as a chicken tender or a chicken breast, and covered in cayenne spices in four heat levels. (Five, if you count the “no heat” option, which has no cayenne.)

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“The Sandwich” is the most popular item so far: a crispy chicken breast on a brioche bun with cole slaw and pickles. Unlike other Nashville hot chicken restaurants in Dallas-Fort Worth, Hot Chicks also serves chicken tacos and a chicken rice bowl.

The restaurant will lean on its bar experience with its four “boozy slushies.” The recipes change, but right now they’re serving: Big Red spiked with coconut rum; frozen watermelon mojito; spiked sweet tea and spiked lemonade. Get those last two swirled together for a frozen John Daly.

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Hot Chicks started as a ghost kitchen, but Sameni says the restaurant can stand on its own.

“It’s a very on-trend offering in Texas,” he says.

Hot Chicks is expected to open in March 2021 at 5609 SMU Blvd., Dallas. Sign up to be invited to Hot Chicks events at hotchickschicken.com.

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Correction at 9:45 a.m. Jan. 26, 2021: This story previously stated that Brownstone closed in 2011. It closed in 2013. This story has been updated.

For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on Twitter at @sblaskovich.