Houston TX Hot Chicken Adds Firepower To Franchise Team With New Director
Seasoned franchise leader Andie Smirl joins at pivotal moment as HHC surpasses 100 franchise units sold and accelerates nationwide growth
Las Vegas, NV (RestaurantNews.com) Houston TX Hot Chicken (HHC), the fast-growing restaurant brand known for dishing up craveable fried chicken sandwiches and tenders – as well as the world’s hottest chicken – today announced the addition of Andie Smirl as Director of Franchise Sales.
Founded in 2021 by Edmond Barseghian, HHC has rapidly evolved from a local favorite into one of the hottest hot chicken brands, with 29 locations across eight states and nearly 400K+ followers across its social media channels. In 2023, it entered into a strategic growth partnership with Savory Fund, a Utah-based private equity firm that invests into emerging restaurant concepts.
Smirl’s appointment comes at a pivotal time, as the brand has surpassed 100 franchise units sold and continues to expand its franchise program nationwide. It has also earned multiple accolades recognizing its explosive growth and innovation, including Breakout Brand on Franchise Times’ Top 400 list, a No. 217 ranking on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list, a Fast Casual Top 100 Mover & Shaker designation, and the Hot Concepts Award from Nation’s Restaurant News.
In her new role, Smirl will lead the identification and recruitment of top-tier franchise operators to fuel HHC’s next phase of growth.
“HHC has an incredibly devoted consumer following, which provides us with a unique opportunity to recreate that contagious energy within the franchisee community,” Smirl said. “The food is second to none, the support is strong, the marketing is excellent, and the opportunities for growth are endless.”
Smirl brings nearly a decade of experience in franchise operations and development. She began her franchising journey at Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, where she played a key role in supporting the brand’s expansion from the operations side before transitioning into development in 2016. In 2023, she joined Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa to gain cross-industry experience before returning to her restaurant roots – and to her true passion – by joining Houston TX Hot Chicken in 2025.
“Andie’s depth of experience and genuine passion for helping franchise partners succeed make her a tremendous addition to our leadership team,” said @brian simowitz Brian Simowitz, President of Houston TX Hot Chicken. “We’re building something special at HHC – a brand with incredible food, an energized culture, and a franchise community that’s as fired up as our chicken. Andie’s leadership will help us take that to the next level.”
Houston TX Hot Chicken continues to capture attention with its craveable menu, electric brand energy, loyal following, and best-in-class support for franchise partners. Known for its hot chicken sandwiches, tenders, salads, soup, waffle shakes, and loaded fries, the unique eatery has seven signature sauces ranging from “No Spice” to “Honey Butter,” to “Liftoff” to “Houston, We Have a Problem!”
For more information on franchise opportunities with Houston TX Hot Chicken, visit HHC.ooo/franchise.
About Houston TX Hot Chicken
Founded in 2021, Houston TX Hot Chicken (HHC) prides itself on serving all natural and never frozen chicken to its guests. With a menu that features hot chicken in the form of sandwiches, tenders and more, HHC offers high quality food alongside an exciting and elevated service standard. In recent years, the restaurant group has experienced rapid growth with locations nationwide in Arizona, California, Nevada, Washington, Texas, Utah, Idaho, Michigan and has plans to continue opening new locations across the country, with the help of its growth partnership with Savory Fund. Learn more at HHC.ooo.
About Savory Fund
Savory Fund is an innovative private equity firm that combines over $750 million in assets under management with a growth playbook and expertise that has been developed over 16 years of operating in the restaurant industry. Savory partners with high-potential, profitable, emerging restaurant brands, to deliver financial capital, industry expertise, growth and revenue opportunities, profitability enhancements and new location development. The Savory team contributes directly to all aspects of growth and replication by using a proven playbook and methodology. Founder involvement in the expansion of a brand is a central theme of the Savory approach as founders carry the tribal knowledge around the uniqueness that has energized early success and is essential to future growth. Savory is currently invested in the following brands: Swig, R&R BBQ, PINCHO, Via 313 Pizzeria, Mo’ Bettahs Hawaiian Style Food, 86 Repairs, Saigon Hustle, Hash Kitchen, The Sicilian Butcher, Houston TX Hot Chicken, South Block, Bonrue Bakery, and Hawkers. For more information, visit SavoryFund.com.
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6dBig congrats to Andie Smirl on joining Brian Simowitz and the Houston TX Hot Chicken team! 🔥 Exciting times ahead as HHC continues its incredible growth and brings more heat nationwide! 🍗💪
Senior Manager, Franchise Marketing & Development at Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa
6dGo Andie!!!
Franchise Sales Expert and Franchisor Executive Advisor | Co-Producer of Franchise Chat & Franchise Connect | Empowering Brands on LinkedIn
6dThis is the kind of team build that separates the true breakouts from the flameouts. Andie Smirl brings that rare combination of franchising brainpower and restaurant DNA someone who knows both how to develop the deal and how to support the operator once it's signed. That matters. Brian Simowitz and the HHC team are showing they understand something most hot brands miss: You don’t build great franchise systems off hype. You build them with operational support, sales discipline, and brand conviction. Well done.
Andie, Brian with this much growth and momentum, it’s time to operationalize franchisee support at scale. Franchise-Info is the U.S. partner for Chainformation a platform built for emerging franchise systems like HHC to keep their standards, checklists, daily routines, and communication in one place with accountability from the field to the boardroom. Joe, Ned, and Mike can show you what this looks like in 15 minutes. Once you see it, you’ll understand why top-performing brands use it to protect unit-level execution as they scale. https://franchisorsales.org/chainformation/
🔥 Houston TX Hot Chicken is turning up the heat — not just in the kitchen, but in franchise development too. With over 100 units sold and serious firepower from Savory Fund, HHC is proving that explosive growth can be matched with strong leadership and strategic execution. Andie Smirl appointment as Director of Franchise Sales brings restaurant-first experience and credibility to the front lines. She’s been in ops, built development pipelines, and now steps into one of the hottest brand trajectories in food franchising. Franchise recruitment isn’t just about selling units. It’s about finding operators who match the brand’s speed, standards, and scale. HHC just leveled up — and so did their future franchise partners.