Wiley said the Stroop Road location’s visibility and the demographics of the surrounding neighborhoods attracted Hot Head’s interest. Plans call for the restaurant to have a drive-through window, only the second Hot Head to offer that service, he said.
The Kettering restaurant would be the 18th Hot Head in the Dayton area. There are 36 Hot Head restaurants in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Pennsylvania, and more than a dozen more in various stages of construction, Wiley said. “By the end of the year, we’ll be close to 50” Hot Head locations open or poised to open, the chain’s co-founder said.
A new Springboro location is on the way. Wiley said he and his Hot Head colleagues are “looking at a couple of locations” in that area and will soon choose one. Other deals are in the works in Urbana and Bellefontaine, he said.
In about a month, Hot Head will unveil a mobile ordering system that will allow customers to order and pay online or from their smartphone or tablet, Wiley said.
Hot Head’s expansion backs up the national recognition it has earned in the past year: In December 2011, it was named among the “Ones to Watch” by QSR Magazine, which monitors the “quick-service restaurant” category. And for two consecutive years in 2011 and 2012, the chain made FastCasual.com’s list of “Top 100 Movers & Shakers,” which recognizes restaurant chains that reflect the fast-casual segment’s growth.
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