Food & Drink

9 Dave's Hot Chicken Menu Items To Order-and 3 To Skip Entirely

By Kenn C. Bivins Parade - Food and Drink Stories

Updated May 31, 2026 2:23 PM

You might not know this about me, but yours truly has a deep affinity for spice. Some might call it a problem, and to that I say, "Can you pass the hot sauce?" For as long as I can remember, I've been obsessed with anything spicy, and I've famously overdone it more than a few times. Like that time when I was 15 and convinced my dad to let me try Taco Mac's Death wings. (You can probably guess how that turned out.) Despite a few hiccups, though, I'll never pass up the chance to test my limits when it comes to heat, so of course I couldn't pass up the chance to try Dave's Hot Chicken and see if it's really worth the hype.

Spoiler: It's definitely worth trying at least once. Even if you're not a heat-seeker like me, Dave's has plenty of mouthwatering items on its menu, making it easy to curate your very own sampler spiced just how you like it. That being said, as a word of caution, the viral Reaper flavor that you have to sign a waiver for is indeed not something to play with. It's hotter than hot, and that's saying a lot coming from someone who snacks on raw serrano peppers now and then. (Lucky for you, I tried it so you don't have to.)

Read on for my honest review of the nine Dave's Hot Chicken menu items that are well worth a try, and which three you should skip.

Related: Here's Exactly What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Spicy Food Every Day

9 Best Dave's Hot Chicken Menu Items

These were my favorite Dave's Hot Chicken menu items and the ones I couldn't get enough of.

1. Dave's Saucy Bites (Extra Hot)

Out of everything I tried at Dave's, these were probably my favorite bite (pun intended) of the day. Granted, they're more like chicken nuggets tossed in sauce, but the extra hot flavor made them really pop compared to everything else on the plate.

While you can order them on their own, I got them as part of the new Dave's Big Trio Meal that also comes with Hot Mozz, four Mini Sliders and your choice of three dipping sauces. Honestly, I'd probably just go for these next time.

Related: Suddenly Craving Spicy Food? Here's What It Could Mean

2. Dave's Hot Mozz (Hot)

Like everybody else, I definitely went in ready to compare Dave's Hot Mozz to Chili's famed brick-sized mozzarella sticks, and honestly, these are pretty close. They're definitely not the same as Chili's, but there's no denying that they're also really good.

The breading at Dave's is a bit on the thicker side, which makes for a very satisfying crunch, and the heat from the sauce really makes them worth going back for.

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3. Dave's Hot Hot Honey Dipper

As far as sauces go, I could've drunk this by the gallon. Honestly, Dave's should bottle this up and sell it. Luckily, Dave's actually uses Mike's Hot Honey, which you can find at the grocery store. It was the perfect complement to everything. Hot Mozz? Dip! Mini Sliders? Dip! Fries? You guessed it. Dip! It was beautifully balanced with sweetness and spice, and yes, I took some to go.

4. Dave's 4-Piece Mini Sliders (Medium)

Surprisingly, despite the fact that these look like chicken nuggets on a bun, I actually enjoyed them and would order them again. They were tender and juicy, and the pickle really added a nice pop of acidity that they would otherwise be missing.

My only knock would be the Kale Slaw, which kind of feels unnecessary in the scheme of the sandwich. It probably works better on the larger slider, but here it got kind of lost. Also, I'd definitely up the heat to hot or extra hot next time. The medium sauce just didn't have enough oomph for me.

5. Dave's Spicy BBQ Dipper

It's hard to go wrong with barbecue sauce, let alone one that's spicy, and Dave's makes a really good one. Truthfully, the sauce made everything so much more enjoyable. It was smoky and thick in that classic Memphis-style barbecue sauce way, plus just the right amount of heat to keep things interesting. Dave might want to consider bottling this one up too.

6. Dave's Hot Mozz (Lite Mild)

Although I personally enjoyed the Hot Hot Mozz better, the Lite Mild flavored ones were also good. They were cooked to piping-hot cheese-pull perfection, and the subtle lift in flavor from the sauce made them taste a little more special than usual. The only thing I would've done differently next time is upped the spice level.

7. Dave's Saucy Bites (Lite Mild)

OK, so I guess I really enjoy Dave's Saucy Bites. They're perfectly juicy morsels of chicken, and the breading is fried to near perfection. You really can't go wrong with these-unless you make the mistake of getting them tossed in the Reaper sauce.

That being said, compared to the saucy bites tossed in extra hot sauce, the lite mild was a bit too mild for a heat-seeker like me.

8. Fries

Despite how ubiquitous they are, good fries are surprisingly hard to come by. While these aren't hand-cut spuds fried in duck fat and tossed with fresh herbs at the end, they were the most picture-perfect example of a fry I could've asked for.

They were crispy and hot, lightly salted and truly did the work of completing the meal. The TL;DR of it all is, don't skip the fries at Dave's Hot Chicken.

9. Dave's Sauce Dipper

Everybody's got a signature sauce these days, and Dave's sauce is the perfect complement to anything on its menu. It's kind of like Zax Sauce and Chick-fil-A sauce mixed into one. Whether you're drowning your Hot Mozz in it or slathering it onto Mini Sliders, you'll definitely want to get extra.

Related: I Tried All of Subway's Sauces and Ranked Them Worst to Best

3 Dave's Hot Chicken Menu Items To Skip

These are the three Dave's Hot Chicken menu items I'd skip.

1. Dave's 4-Piece Mini Sliders (No Spice)

Although I highly recommend avoiding the Reaper flavor at all costs (more on that below), it kind of defeats the purpose of coming to Dave's Hot Chicken to get chicken without any heat.

Sure, everyone has a variable tolerance for spice, but even my intensely spice-averse mom could at least handle mild. Without the spice, these mini sliders taste like nothing more than a chicken nugget on toasted bread.

2. Top-Loaded Fruity Pebbles Shake

Dave's Top-Loaded Fruity Pebbles Shake is a perfect example of genius marketing that entices you to try something...only for it to not even come close to your expectations. Personally, I wasn't impressed.

You know how jarred pasta sauce sometimes tastes like "jar"? For whatever reason, I could taste the commercial soft-serve machine quality in the shake base here, which only made the generous Fruity Pebbles covering feel like even more of an afterthought.

It wasn't the worst thing I've ever had by any means, but for $6.99, I'd rather grab a shake from somewhere else.

3. Single Tender (Reaper)

As a certified spice fiend, I mean this sincerely as a friend: there is absolutely no circumstance in which you should ever find yourself teetering between whether to take the challenge and try the devilishly hot Reaper sauce or not. I'll spare you the pain (literally) and just say to leave it alone.

It quite literally tastes like they figured out a way to turn lava into a flavor. Not only is it otherworldly hot, but it also just doesn't taste good. There's no flavor to the sauce whatsoever other than pure unadulterated heat. You're absolutely not missing out on anything if you skip this one.

So, the next time you're at Dave's Hot Chicken, consider ordering some of my favorite menu items (and skipping the hotter-than-hot Reaper sauce). There's still plenty of spice and flavor to be found and enjoyed at Dave's even without its hottest sauce.

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This story was originally published May 31, 2026 at 1:06 PM.