Houston TX Hot Chicken plots U.K. expansion

Another hot chicken concept is jumping the pond to the United Kingdom.

Houston TX Hot Chicken on Monday announced its first international expansion, signing a European franchise agreement that will bring the brand to the U.K.

The deal is with the casual-dining operator PizzaExpress, which operates nearly 500 units across the U.K. and Ireland within its house of brands.

Under the agreement, PizzaExpress is scheduled to open three Houston TX Hot Chicken units this year, with a total of 50 planned over three years.

“Working with the PizzaExpress team to expand for the first time internationally is truly a milestone moment for us,” said Brian Simowitz, president of Houston TX Hot Chicken, in a statement. “No one knows fried chicken better than HHC, and no one knows the UK market better than PizzaExpress, making this the perfect partnership. We can’t wait to fly the coop and land in the UK, bringing something unexpected and exciting to chicken consumers.”

Based in Las Vegas and founded in 2021, Houston TX Hot Chicken has about 30 units across nine states. It’s owned by private-equity firm Savory Fund, which also backs brands like Swig and Mo’ Bettahs.

Houston TX Hot Chicken is one of a number of U.S.-based chicken chains growing across the U.K. and Ireland.

Dave’s Hot Chicken, for example, last year announced a deal with U.K.-based Azzurri Group to open 60 units in the U.K. and Ireland (as well as 180 more across Europe). To date, 12 Dave’s units have opened in the U.K., with another scheduled to open next week.

Raising Cane’s is also plotting growth in England. Chick-fil-A began expanding there last year, and Domino’s is developing a chicken brand there called Chick ‘N’ Dip.

UPDATE: This story has to be updated to change how the company described the agreement. It was initially described as a master franchise agreement.