Watertown's Town Planning Board has given conceptual approval for a Dave's Hot Chicken restaurant to open in the former TGI Fridays building at the Watertown Towne Center, clearing the way for owner Jonathan Trager to pursue the next stage of county and town review. Trager told the board he hopes to open the Nashville-style hot chicken chain's first North Country location on Dec. 3, in Target Plaza off Route 3.
Approval Comes With Strings Attached
The conceptual sign-off, granted on Wednesday, does not mean the project is cleared for construction. According to nny360.com, Trager must still submit plans to the Jefferson County Planning Board for review before returning to the town for a public hearing and final approval. That timeline sits alongside an earlier projection from February, when WWNY reported the restaurant was expected to open this spring — a forecast that has since shifted toward Trager's stated hope for a December debut, per the later report.
The building itself has a head start on the rest of the process. Trager said interior renovations of the long-vacant restaurant space are almost complete, the outlet reports, and the Dave's Hot Chicken operation will occupy only the front portion of the building. The parking lot won't see much work, though sidewalk repairs have already been completed, according to the same account.
Graffiti-Style Exterior Scrapped After Pushback
Getting to this point required a design retreat. Town planners had objected to a colorful, urban-looking exterior artwork proposed for the building, and Trager eliminated the graffiti-style look from the former Fridays structure at the Towne Center site on Route 3, the report states. Planning Board Chairman Tom Boxberger said he appreciated Trager's work on the sign, per the same account, and Trager indicated he will hold off on applying for restaurant signage until later in the process.
The exterior fight wasn't new. A separate nny360.com report from earlier this year noted that board members gave a big thumbs down to a colorful, graffiti-influenced exterior design when the project first came before them — a sign the current conceptual approval followed months of back-and-forth over how the building should look from the road.
What's on the Menu, and Who's Footing the Bill
Dave's Hot Chicken will bring its signature Nashville-style hot chicken menu to Watertown, with hand-breaded tenders and sliders offered at seven spice levels ranging from No Spice up to the brand's signature Reaper, WWNY reported. The restaurant is being billed as the first franchise of its kind in the North Country, per nny360.com, and is expected to seat about 40 people while employing more than 40 workers once it opens.
Operations will lean heavily on digital orders: customers will primarily order food online and pick it up inside, the outlet reports. Planned hours are 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, stretching to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, according to the same report. Trager declined to say how many franchises he owns or to identify other restaurant chains he operates, nny360.com noted.
A Long-Empty Storefront Finally Gets New Life
The site has sat empty for years. The 5,071-square-foot building near Kohl's, Net Par and Target last housed a TGI Fridays that closed in February 2020, as reported by WWNY; Watertown Daily Times noted that COR Development Company planned to bring Dave's Hot Chicken into the former TGI Fridays building. Whether the restaurant lands on Trager's hoped-for Dec. 3 date or faces further delay through the county review and public hearing process remains to be seen.
