Restaurant Updates: Dave’s Hot Chicken, Freddy’s and Shake Shack

* Dave’s Hot Chicken (Pasadena, Calif.) has opened its 500th restaurant, in Phoenix. The fast-growing concept, which was founded 2017 as a late-night pop-up in an East Hollywood parking lot, began franchising its locales just a few months later, thanks in large part to its connecting with Wetzel’s Pretzels co-founder Bill Phelps. The spicy chicken chain also said it has sold the rights to more than 1020 franchise locations in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Canada, and will open 70-plus locations by year’s end.

* Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers (Wichita, Kan.) has signed a five-unit development agreement to bring the brand to the Philippines, marking its first development agreement in Southeast Asia. Locally based OMG Holdings OPC will lead the expansion, with the first restaurant of the five planned eateirs expected to open in 2027. Founded in 20022, Freddy’s has 580 locations across the U.S. and Canada.

* Shake Shack Inc. (New York) has unveiled plans to open 40 locations throughout Brazil over the coming decade via a new licensing partnership with São Paulo-based Bold Hospitality Co. Following seven years in Mexico and the brand’s upcoming entry into Panama, Brazil represents the next significant step in Shake Shack’s growth across the region, the company said in a news release. Founded by Danny Meyer in 2004 in New York’s Madison Square Park, the chain has since grown to 740-plus locations system-wide, including roughly 475 in 36 U.S. States and the District of Columbia, and over the rest in such international markets as Dubai, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, Mexico City, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.