Charlotte rapper DaBaby to open chicken and waffles restaurant. The sign is up.
Charlotte rapper DaBaby is expanding his brand beyond his music empire with the opening of a franchised restaurant featuring his chicken and waffles and other down-home culinary creations.
“New Landmark Just Landed in the City!” DaBaby told his 19.5 million Instagram followers Thursday night with a music video that shows a worker being lowered on a lift beside the towering new sign at 700 Atando Ave.: “No Knife Chicken & Waffles.”
The words on the sign are set against a giant waffle that includes a slice of butter.
The restaurant will be open 7 a.m. to 4 a.m. daily except Mondays, when it will be closed, according to a sign on the door. What day the restaurant will debut hasn’t been announced, but a Charlotte Observer journalist saw all the signs were up on the location Saturday.
“’No knife’ is my alter-ego when I’m in the kitchen,” DaBaby, whose real name is Jonathan Kirk, said recently on the Queen City News “Positively Charlotte” show, where he announced his new venture.
“No Knife Chicken & Waffles, brought to you exclusively by me,” he told the show.
The Atando Avenue building will be his first franchise location, he said.
This story was originally published June 27, 2026 at 1:25 PM.