Dave's Hot Chicken will open its first Wichita restaurant on Friday, Oct. 9, a week later than originally planned, as reported by the Wichita Eagle.

Franchisee Pierce Gorman confirmed the new date on Wednesday, Sept. 30. The Nashville-style hot chicken chain will take over the former Blaze Pizza space at 2692 N. Greenwich Court in the Greenwich Place shopping center. Blaze Pizza closed that location on May 11 after operating there since 2017.

"It was planned for that, and then, as you know, things happen, and it got pushed back," Gorman said of the delay.

Gorman and his wife, Hannah, moved to Wichita from San Antonio to launch the franchise. Pierce Gorman is the son of Paul Gorman, a San Antonio-based Dave's Hot Chicken franchisee.

Dave's Hot Chicken filed a $550,000 building permit in April to remodel the Greenwich Place space. A chain spokesperson said at the time that the restaurant would open by the third quarter of 2026. That target slipped. Wichita-based Farha Construction handled the remodel work for both the Wichita location and a planned Manhattan, Kansas, restaurant the Gormans are also opening.

The chain specializes in hot chicken tenders and sliders. It started in East Hollywood, California when four friends pooled $900 and set up a fryer in a parking lot.

The Greenwich Road location will not have a drive-through. Gorman told the Eagle that about half of the chain's roughly 300 restaurants nationwide have drive-throughs and the other half do not.

Hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Gorman told the Eagle he is glad to be in Wichita and grateful for the community's enthusiasm ahead of the opening.

Beyond the Greenwich Road restaurant, Gorman confirmed plans for a second Dave's Hot Chicken on Wichita's west side sometime in 2027. He said he has narrowed down a location but has not finalized it.