Here’s what’s replacing Smashburger on Devine Street in Columbia

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People who love their chicken with a spicy kick will be excited about a new restaurant headed to Devine Street in Columbia.

Los Angeles-based Dave’s Hot Chicken will be opening its first South Carolina location at 4601-A Devine St. in the next few months, according to a recent announcement. It will be moving into the space recently vacated by a Smashburger. Company officials have said up to 10 other locations could be coming to the state in the near future as well, but no dates have been released.

The fast-casual restaurant serves up chicken tenders and sandwiches done in a variety of spicy flavors.

Dave’s Hot Chicken was created in 2017 by best friends Dave Kopushyan, Arman Oganesyan, and Tommy and Gary Rubenyan, according to a bio on the company’s website. Dave, a trained chef, started working to create the perfect spicy chicken, and then the four friends rounded up $900 to start a small food stand in an East Hollywood parking lot. They started serving chicken flavored in a range of “no spice” to “The Reaper,” lines started to form and word spread on social media. The restaurant took off from there.

Today Dave’s Hot Chicken has more than 100 locations in the U.S., Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Quatar, with more opening nearly every month.