Gregg Majewski chats with Jim Bitticks, President of Dave’s Hot Chicken, to discuss the rapid rise of one of the fastest-growing restaurant franchises in the U.S.

Key Takeaways

Build the Right Team from Day One
The Secret to Franchisee Selection
Bold Marketing Moves Make a Big Impact

On the latest episode of Room for Seconds, host Gregg Majewski sat down with Jim Bitticks, President & COO of Dave’s Hot Chicken, to discuss the rapid rise of one of the fastest-growing restaurant franchises in the U.S. From humble beginnings as a parking lot pop-up to over 270 locations and counting, Jim shares the strategies, challenges, and bold moves that have fueled Dave’s explosive growth.

Build the Right Team from Day One

Scaling fast requires top-tier leadership from the start. Instead of hiring up-and-comers and growing them into leadership roles, Dave’s Hot Chicken brought in experienced executives early—a strategy that’s paid off.

“We started with the bigger name, more experienced people, and that has been a huge driver of the success.” – Jim Bitticks

By surrounding the brand with franchise veterans and industry leaders, they ensured consistent execution and avoided the growing pains many startups face.

The Secret to Franchisee Selection

Dave’s Hot Chicken doesn’t just sell franchises to anyone—they carefully vet operators based on experience and market knowledge.

“We chose only franchisees that have multiple brands under their belt or in their portfolio and have done it for a long time with multiple units.” – Jim Bitticks

This strategic approach ensures that operators already understand brand compliance, scaling, and operational excellence, reducing risk and accelerating growth.

Bold Marketing Moves Make a Big Impact

Early on, Dave’s Hot Chicken made a high-stakes decision to invest heavily in advertising—even before the brand had the budget to fully support it. Instead of waiting for their ad fund to grow, they took an aggressive approach, believing that early exposure would drive long-term success.

By deficit spending on creative and media buys, Dave’s was able to secure prime visibility, generate massive consumer interest, and ultimately boost franchisee confidence in the brand’s marketing power. This strategic risk paid off, positioning Dave’s Hot Chicken as a must-visit destination in new markets.

“We didn't have the money in the ad fund, we just spent it. And that really, really worked.” – Jim Bitticks

Episode Links:

ABOUT JIM BITTICKS:

Bitticks started in the restaurant industry as a teenager and climbed the ranks at CKE Restaurants to become vice president of operations in the San Diego market. He joined Blaze Pizza in 2013 to lead operations and training and later became chief restaurant officer to help that concept grow from two to more than 350 locations.

Bitticks joined Dave’s Hot Chicken as COO in July 2020 and has helped build systems and processes to enable Dave’s Hot Chicken to scale at a rapid pace.

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About Gregg Majewski

Gregg Majewski has a vast amount of experience as a corporate executive in the restaurant industry. As the former CEO of Jimmy John’s, he played a major role in expanding the franchise from 33 to 300+ stores in just 5 years by surrounding the company’s marketing strategy around the innovative approach of delivering sandwiches and being “freaky fast”. Majewski has worked to develop restaurant concepts over the last two plus decades, before starting Craveworthy Brands in 2023, which currently includes a growing portfolio of restaurant brands. Craveworthy Media is Majewski’s gift back to the industry that has given him so much. The goal of Craveworthy is to inspire the up and coming industry leaders by providing important information, stories, and insights from titans past and present.

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Room for Seconds is produced and published by Cali BBQ Media on behalf of Craveworthy Brands

Videos, Podcast

How Dave’s Hot Chicken Became a Franchise Powerhouse