Haven Hot Chicken opening its 8th location in state
Haven Hot Chicken is opening its eighth location in the state at 202 Main St., Oxford, within the Quarry Walk complex. Its grand opening was originally announced for May 25, but may be delayed because of an equipment shipping issue, the company said Tuesday afternoon.
The restaurant, which specializes in Nashville hot chicken and vegetarian “not chicken,” will give away free sandwiches to the first 203 guests in line on its opening day, according to a news release.
Haven Hot Chicken offers crispy fried chicken and fried cauliflower in five different spice levels, ranging from no-heat “country” to “Haven” ("for the hot head”). Items include sandwiches, tenders, sliders and chicken and waffles, and sides and snacks like fries, creamy vinegar slaw, garlic-dill pickles and mac and cheese. A portion of sales from its banana pudding dessert go to Connecticut Foodshare, raising crucial funds to help curb food insecurity.
“Store #008 not only brings close proximity for those visiting us off of Routes 67, 8 and I-84, but also welcomes in our new neighbors in the live/work community that Quarry Walk is growing to be,” said district manager Steve Rivera in a statement.
The Oxford location offers indoor and outdoor dining, online ordering with curbside takeout, delivery with DoorDash and UberEats and catering options.
Since its initial debut in New Haven in October 2020, Haven Hot Chicken has been steadily growing throughout the state, opening restaurants in Orange, Norwalk, North Haven, Storrs, Middletown and Newington. A future location is planned for Fairfield, projected to open in July.
Haven Hot Chicken was recently featured on an April episode of Food Network’s “Best Bite In Town,” where host Noah Cappe and chefs and TV personalities Jet Tila and Tiffani Faison explored signature dishes from six New Haven restaurants. Cappe, Tila and Faison nominated three dishes to present to a panel of culinary judges, which determines the “Best Bite In Town.”
Haven’s “The Sandwich,” Tila’s pick, won over the judges: Josh Capon, a chef who’s competed on other shows like “Beat Bobby Flay” and “Rachael Ray;" Christian Petroni, the joint winner of the 14th season of “Food Network Star;" and Brooke Caison, the food editor at Delish. The chicken sandwich features a breast marinated in buttermilk for 72 hours, Haven co-founder
Rob LaTronica explained on the episode, with garlicdill pickles, vinegar coleslaw and “Rob sauce,” a ketchup and mayonnaisebased recipe, on a potato bun.
Though Faison and Cappe expressed doubt that the Nashville-born recipe would win the contest, Tila claimed victory, as Capon pronounced The Sandwich “motherclucking good.” Five days after the episode aired, business was up as much as 75 percent at its locations, LaTronica told Hearst Connecticut.