New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Haven Hot Chicken to open Orange location
Haven Hot Chicken, which opened in October in New Haven, will expand to Orange later this year, taking over part of the former Bertucci’s location at 550 Boston Post Road.
The Nashville hot chicken restaurant will take about 1,400 square feet of the former Bertucci’s space, said co-owner Jason Sobocinski, with Mission BBQ, set to open this spring, taking the other half.
Like the New Haven location, Haven in Orange will focus on quick-service takeout and delivery.
“This location became available during our search, and we just did a ton of research about its proximity to [the New Haven restaurant]; its proximity to more population,” Sobocinski said. “And it just seemed like the right fit, so we jumped on it.”
Etkin Tekin, who co-owns Haven with partners Sobocinski, Rob LaTronica and Craig Sklar, said the Post Road address was attractive because of its large parking lot, and its proximity to nearby Trader Joe’s and TJ Maxx.
Haven, the first restaurant in the Elm City dedicated to Nashville hot chicken, opened in October at 21 Whitney Ave., with chicken and “not-chicken” (fried cauliflower) in five different spice levels. Menu items include combo meals with tenders and sandwiches, and sides such as fries, creamy vinegar slaw, garlic-dill pickles, collard greens and banana pudding. A snack list features sliders and fried cauliflower nuggets.
Feeling adventurous? A “tendie roulette”
gets you five tenders, one of each spice level, served on white bread with pickles and choice of sauce.
“Our menu [in Orange] will look similar, but we are constantly doing new things, so stay tuned,” Sobocinski said. Haven has added chicken and waffles to the menu since its opening, and the restaurant in November partnered with social media personality Daym Drops for a limited-time sandwich featuring gochujang and bacon.
Dedicated Nashville hot chicken restaurants have made inroads in Connecticut over the past year. Howling Hot Chicken debuted in Bridgeport on Feb. 15, following the fall openings of the original Haven location, Birdcode in West Hartford (which will open a second restaurant in Darien later this year), and Fowl Play at the Parkville Market food hall in Hartford.
Tekin said he and his team are “blown away” by the response to Haven’s original restaurant, and also by guests’ excitement about the new Orange location, which the partners announced on social media Monday.
“We've worked really hard to bring a great product and a great experience to the food scene in New Haven. We've been blown away every day, the level of support that we've received,” he said. “It's really humbling for us.”