A Connecticut fried chicken chain best known around New Haven is setting up shop on Durham's Ninth Street, aiming to open its first North Carolina restaurant at 706 Ninth St. next door to Starbucks by the end of 2026. Haven Hot Chicken is built around Nashville-style hot chicken, and the Ninth Street spot will mark the brand's entry into a market already crowded with rival hot chicken concepts angling for Triangle diners.
The Durham location will be run by franchisees John Enterline and Tim Loebach, who according to the Raleigh News & Observer hold a 10-location deal to bring Haven Hot Chicken across North Carolina, with plans to focus on the Triangle in the short term. The pair also expects to open a second North Carolina location in Fuquay-Varina, per the same report. Enterline told the paper that New England has a crazy good food scene and called Haven Hot Chicken the best fried chicken he has ever had.
Why Ninth Street
Durham's Ninth Street is a foodie and bar corridor popular with Duke University students, according to the News & Observer, making it a natural target for a chain built around collegiate markets. Haven Hot Chicken is expected to begin construction on the Ninth Street storefront as it works toward its 2026 opening, per franchisee statements to the paper. Founded in 2020 in New Haven, Connecticut, the chain grew out of a pop-up concept launched by local restaurateurs Rob LaTronica, Craig Sklar, Jason Sobocinski, and Etkin Tekin after months of recipe testing and research in Nashville, according to CT Mirror.
The founders built the concept from pop-ups into nine corporate locations in Connecticut before opening the brand to franchisees, the outlet reports. That growth caught the attention of Inc. magazine, which ranked Haven Hot Chicken No. 160 on its 2024 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the country after the chain posted 2,287% revenue growth between 2020 and 2023, according to the Hartford Business Journal. The ranking made it the highest-placed Connecticut business on that year's list, and the paper noted the company grew from four locations to nine in just 10 months.
What's on the Menu
Haven Hot Chicken serves halal-certified chicken, including boneless tenders and chicken sandwiches, and offers heat levels ranging from Country to Off-Menu, per the News & Observer. Franchisees told the paper the brand's chicken gets very hot without being unnecessarily painful, and Loebach said the heat is based on flavor rather than pain. The chain also added a grilled chicken option to its menu alongside its fried offerings.
Beyond sandwiches and tenders, the menu includes tendie bowls such as Sweet Heat, which combines mac and cheese, spicy chicken, a maple-based sweet sauce, and green onions, according to the same report. The chain's signature item, THE Sandwich, features buttermilk-marinated fried chicken, vinegar slaw, pickles, and sauce on a toasted potato bun, and was named Grand Champion on Food Network's Best Bite in Town series, per WhatNow.
A Local Look for a National Chain
To reflect its new community, the Durham storefront will feature a custom Bull City-inspired mural designed by Amanda “Peep” Bivins, Haven Hot Chicken's longtime resident artist, WhatNow reports. Artwork across Haven locations is designed to incorporate themes from each host community, the outlet notes. The building itself carries its own local history: the structure at 706 Ninth St. was built around 1936 and originally housed Andrews Furniture Company before later serving as home to local dance studios and Francesca's Dessert Caffe, according to Open Durham.
Enterline and Loebach bring their own regional track record to the buildout through The Enterline Group, having previously operated several multi-unit Jersey Mike's Subs franchises in the area, according to WhatNow. Haven's initial wave of franchise agreements went to experienced multi-unit Jersey Mike's operators, the outlet reports, giving the North Carolina expansion operational backing beyond the brand's own growth numbers.
Sustainability and Giving Back
Haven Hot Chicken has built sustainability into its operating model, recycling 100% of its high-oleic canola cooking oil into aviation biofuel and using eco-friendly packaging and cutlery made from repurposed oyster shells, according to Franklin Matters. The chain also runs a philanthropic effort called The Great Banana Puddin' Drive, donating 50 cents from every banana pudding sale to regional food banks, with giving mandated across both corporate and franchise locations, the outlet reports.
The Durham opening comes as Haven Hot Chicken pushes into a fast-casual chicken market now worth $61.1 billion nationally, with fried chicken concepts growing at a 7.2% annual rate as spicy regional styles compete for market share, according to a PRWeb release announcing the company's national franchise program. That program, launched in November 2025, included 25 initial location commitments targeting expansion into Massachusetts, North Carolina, and six other Eastern states, making Durham one of Haven's first franchise builds outside Connecticut.
Haven Hot Chicken's arrival adds another national name to a Triangle hot chicken scene that has grown crowded fast. Hoodline previously reported that Dave's Hot Chicken is eyeing Cary, while Hangry Joe's is targeting Raleigh's Millbrook Road. Whether Durham's appetite for local, independent food concepts leaves room for a third national hot chicken chain remains to be seen as construction gets underway on Ninth Street.
