The Red Chickz hot chicken eatery opens its doors in Cypress

Co-founder Nima Christensen said he and his business partner, Shawn Lalehzarian, owned another restaurant concept in downtown Los Angeles but wanted to try a new concept. Hot chicken wasn't yet popular in Los Angeles when they launched The Red Chickz in 2018, but today there are more than 100 hot chicken eateries in the region, he said.

“We ran into the concept of Nashville hot chicken, and we did a lot of research on it. We actually flew out to Nashville, spent a week there and we asked anybody from the Uber driver to the hotel bellman, ‘Do you know anybody that makes it?’” he told Community Impact in a March interview. “We actually got invited to a few homes, ... [and] the seasoning that we still use today on the chicken is from somebody's kitchen in Nashville.”

Christensen said The Red Chickz focuses on flavor and crunchiness, describing the chicken as having a light batter without greasiness.

• Opened April 13
• 28902 Hwy. 290, Ste. J-03, Cypress
• www.theredchickz.com