Columbus-based Hot Chicken Takeover adding Gahanna location

GAHANNA, Ohio (WCMH) -- The Columbus-based Nashville fried chicken restaurant Hot Chicken Takeover is preparing to open its newest location on Hamilton Road in Gahanna.

The storefront, located at 109 N. Hamilton Rd., will get its signage in the next week or two, with plans to be ready to welcome customers by the first week of April. Gahanna will be Hot Chicken Takeover’s eighth location, with seven restaurants in Columbus and one in Cleveland. 

Phil Petrilli -- the CEO of Untamed Brands, which has owned a majority stake in Hot Chicken Takeover since late 2021 -- said Gahanna won’t be the last location opening in the near future. 

“We will have almost doubled our size in the little over a year since I acquired Hot Chicken Takeover, and that doubling in size has created wonderful opportunities for people who have joined us,” Petrilli said. 

The rooster-clad restaurants -- which have quickly expanded their reach in more recent history -- also practice a “Fair Chance” hiring model by offering jobs to people who are homeless, formerly incarcerated, or facing other sorts of barriers to work. 

In the future, Petrilli wants to see more locations opening to the east of the city -- he said he was loosely looking at Pickerington, Grove City, and Hilliard, among other neighborhoods and suburbs without a Hot Chicken Takeover.

“I really haven’t seen that kind of enthusiasm, quite honestly, for fast casual restaurants since my early days with Chipotle, when we had less than 20 locations in the world,” he said. 

Petrilli said some of that enthusiasm could eventually bring the brand further outside of Columbus to neighboring Ohio cities, too.