Drake's in the hot chicken business? This celebrity-owned restaurant is opening in Arizona

California-based Dave's Hot Chicken is opening its first Arizona restaurant in Gilbert with a grand opening planned for Oct. 14.

Since its inception in Los Angeles in 2017, the restaurant has grown by leaps and bounds with franchises all over America, Canada and one in Dubai thanks to heavy investment by a slew of celebrities including Drake, Maria Shriver, Red Sox owner Tom Werner, Samuel L. Jackson and Good Morning America anchor and retired NFL player Michael Strahan.

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The fast-casual restaurant was started by best friends — Dave Kopushyan, Arman Oganesyan and Tommy and Gary Rubenyan — as a small stand in an East Hollywood parking lot. The recipe comes from Kopushyan, who worked at Thomas Keller's French Laundry.

Within a year the friends opened their first brick-and-mortar as the business took off.

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Celebrities began investing in the company after tasting the food.

Inside the restaurant, graffiti decorates the walls with phrases like "We started in a parking lot" and "With $900 and a fryer," alluding to their humble beginnings.

In an interview with Food & Wine, Drake said: "I tried the food, and it was amazing, After meeting the founders and hearing their story I jumped at the opportunity to invest."

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What to expect at Dave's Hot Chicken

Dave's offers seven levels of heat: no spice, lite mild, mild, medium, hot, extra hot, and reaper. If you are brave enough to try the last one, you'll need to sign a waiver first.

Choose from tenders, sliders or various combinations. All items come with Dave's special sauce, pickles and a side of crinkle-cut fries. Customers can also add kale slaw, mac and cheese or cheese fries.

Details: 1567 N. Cooper Road, Gilbert. 480-903-8220 daveshotchicken.com.

Hours: Grand opening: Friday, Oct. 14. 10 a.m. to midnight, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., Sunday to Thursday.

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Reach the reporter at BAnooshahr@azcentral.com. Follow @banooshahr on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Celebrity-owned Dave's Hot Chicken is coming to Arizona. Here's where