Fast-Growing Hot Chicken Chain To Open Saturday In Newington

NEWINGTON, CT — A taste of Nashville is coming to the Newington area later this week, with Haven Hot Chicken set to open its newest restaurant.

The new eatery, located at 12 Fenn Road, will open to the public on Saturday, April 13, and the first 203 people in line will get a tasty freebie to fill their stomachs.

The Newington location will be open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and it will feature limited seating for in-house dining, and online ordering with curbside takeout.

It will also cater to delivery services like DoorDash and UberEats, and it will have catering services as well.

The theme of Haven Hot Chicken is Nashville-style "hot chicken" sandwiches, nuggets and tenders, along with a plethora of country-style side dishes and desserts.

"Hot chicken" is not only hot in temperature, but in spiciness, with varying levels of "heat" that dares brave souls to temp or torture their taste buds.

Haven Hot Chicken may mirror similar eateries of the south, but it is actually based in New England and started out just a few short years ago as pop-up stands in New Haven.

It already has eateries open in New Haven, Orange, Norwalk, North Haven, Storrs and Middletown. Locations in Fairfield and Oxford will open later this year.

Newington's site has been affectionately labeled as store "007."

“Store #007, here we come,” said Alfred Alvarez, general manager of Newington's Haven Hot Chicken. “Our close proximity to Route 9, Central Connecticut State University and so much more will help us deliver our crispy, crunchy, juicy, spicy, delicious chicken and NOT chicken to more of the state, fulfilling our promise to guests to provide the best hot chicken and not chicken you’ve ever had.
"Our guests have come to know and love our grand opening celebrations – so we’ll be once again opening our doors at 11 a.m. on April 13 to give away 203 of our signature item – The Sandwich – to the first 203 guests in line to join us on this big day.”

Company officials also said they have another goal, namely helping to raise funds to help curb food insecurity in the state of Connecticut.

Their effort is called “The Great Banana Pudding Drive,” and Haven will donate the cost of one meal from the sale of each "absurdly delicious" banana pudding to Connecticut Foodshare.

To date, Haven Hot Chicken has helped to raise funds for more than 60,000 meals for Connecticut residents in need.

Haven Hot Chicken was founded in 2020 by local restaurateurs Rob LaTronica, Craig Sklar, Jason Sobocinski, Tom Sobocinski, and Etkin Tekin.

For more information about Haven Hot Chicken, click on this link.