Dave's Hot Chicken opened in Billings on December 2.

We wrote about the arrival of Billings' newest fast-casual restaurant a few weeks ago, and have been anticipating a chance to try Dave's Hot Chicken ever since. The opportunity presented itself a day before the official opening date.

I was running errands in Shiloh Crossing on Friday (12/1) around noon and was pulling into the Taco Johns parking lot to grab some lunch when I noticed a line of cars moving through Dave's Hot Chicken drive-through. "Sorry, TJ's... you'll have to wait", I thought, backing out of the lot. "Spicy chicken is what I'm having today."

A fairly basic menu. Credit Michael Foth
Checking out my chicken choices. Credit Michael Foth
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A basic menu.

There were three cars in front of me when I pulled up and the line was moving fairly quickly. Approaching the order board, you're faced with basically four meal options; all feature a combo of sliders, tenders, or both. For example, a #1 is two tenders with fries. The #2 is two sliders with fries.  I chose the #3 which is one tender and one slider with fries ($12.99) and added a medium Coke.

Credit Michael Foth, TSM
Credit Michael Foth, TSM
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It's a lot of food.

The friendly employee handed me my order and the bag seemed heavy. "This feels like a lot of food", I thought as I cruised through the Scheels parking lot and parked by the little pond behind the store. There was no way I could wait to drive all the way home to enjoy this food. I like things hot and fresh and for this review, I needed to get that hot chicken in my mouth ASAP.

Close up of the slider (I already ate the other half). Credit Michael Foth, TSM
Close-up of the slider (I already ate the other half). Credit Michael Foth, TSM
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The tenders are huge.

In hindsight, I could have ordered the single slider and fries combo and been completely satisfied. The all-white-meat chicken tenders at Dave's are large, easily dwarfing the bun on the slider. I ordered it as it comes, topped with coleslaw, pickles, and sauce. Dave's offers every tender on a heat scale of "none" to "reaper".

I chose extra hot, the second hottest option. After the first few bites, the heat started to creep into my mouth. Halfway through the sandwich I was reaching for my first sip of Coke to cool things off a little. The sweetness of the coleslaw and bun provided a cool balance to the overall spiciness of the sandwich. Dave's extra hot sandwich seemed about twice as hot as Wendy's spicy chicken to my palette.

A lot of food for $12.99. Credit Michael Foth, TSM
A lot of food for $12.99. Credit Michael Foth, TSM
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How hot is hot?

Finished with the sandwich, I moved on to the tender (also "extra hot"). Without the balance of the sweet sandwich toppings, I could really taste the heat here. The solo tender also provided a better examination of the breading, which is thin and crispy (almost like thin, crackle-crisp, fried chicken skin). It was dusted with a seasoning rub that gave a hint of sweet-and-smoky before the hotness kicked in.

Fry sauce. Credit Michael Foth, TSM
Fry sauce. Credit Michael Foth, TSM
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Dave's Hot Chicken serves crinkle-cut fries.

I'm not usually a huge fan of crinkle-cut fries because to me they always seem soggy. However, these were crisp and satisfying. They were sprinkled with a hint of seasoning that didn't seem to offer much additional flavor, but perhaps I couldn't taste it because my mouth was still smoldering from the hot chicken.

Overall, as someone who loves spicy foods, I was impressed by the meal at Dave's Hot Chicken. It will probably become my new go-to place when I'm craving a chicken sandwich.

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