After a recent celebrity-backed franchise development investment, Los Angeles-based Nashville fried chicken sensation Dave's Hot Chicken has announced it will be opening more than a dozen locations in San Diego in the coming years.Originally founded in 2017 by Chef Dave Kopushyan, Arman Oganesyan, and brothers Tom and Gary Rubenyan as a pop-up in a Los Angeles parking lot, Dave's Hot Chicken has recently partnered with the original investor group behind Blaze Pizza to take the concept across the country, including two locations to open in San Diego within the next year and up to 14 total. The investment group behind the franchise development deal includes Bill Phelps, co-founder of the Wetzel’s Pretzels chain who is now CEO of Dave's Hot Chicken, as well as former California First Lady Maria Shriver, actor Samuel L. Jackson, Red Sox owner Tom Werner, movie producer John Davis, andanchor and former NFL player Michael Strahan. The four original founders will retain a 50% ownership interest and also own their own franchises, including the flagship location and the branches already planned for LA.Dave’s Hot Chicken opened its first brick-and-mortar location in East Hollywood in 2018, which quickly became extremely popular with lines around the block and nearly 100k followers on Instagram. A second outpost opened in North Hollywood last week, with a third Dave’s Hot Chicken branc set to unveil in the Los Angeles' Koreatown as early as December. Dave’s has a concise menu of Nashville-style fried chicken tenders and fried chicken sliders (they're really full size sandwich, we were there last month) with spice levels ranging from "No Heat" to "Reaper." The restaurants also offers a list of sides including fries, kale slaw, and macaroni n' cheese, as well as a limited beer selections and soft drinks.The San Diego territory has been sold to a single unnamed franchisee who appears to be working with local commercial brokerage Location Matters on securing adequate locations around the city. For more information, visit daveshotchicken.com