Derrick Hayes will continue the growth of the restaurant concept he founded nearly a decade ago with the opening of a fourth location this weekend.
Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks will open at 875 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road in the Lawrenceville Marketplace development Aug. 5 with a celebration from noon-6 p.m. featuring a DJ and trivia games with prizes including free cheesesteaks for a year.
The 1,500-square-foot counter-service space will offer the same menu as other Big Dave’s locations, with offerings including beef, chicken and salmon cheesesteaks, loaded fries, egg rolls and salads.
Credit: Drea Nicole Photography
Credit: Drea Nicole Photography
Philadelphia native Hayes launched Big Dave’s, named for his father, inside a Shell gas station on Winters Chapel Road in 2014. He moved the operation to 57 Forsyth St. NW in downtown Atlanta in 2019, opened a second Doraville location in 2020, and a third in Forest Park earlier this year.
In addition, Big Dave’s has a food truck and several units inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium. In 2022, Hayes debuted Big Dave’s All Purpose Spice, sold at Big Dave’s locations and online. He also launched the David & Derrick Hayes Foundation, which supports early cancer detection and research, and the David & Derrick Hayes College Fund, which provides quarterly funding to students with a 3.0 GPA or higher.
Hayes also co-founded Square 1: The Liife Experience, an initiative that seeks to provide 25,000 Black men with full access to life insurance, with his wife, Pinky Cole, the founder and operator of Atlanta-based vegan chain Slutty Vegan and Bar Vegan.
Opening hours for the Lawrenceville location are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily.
875 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road, Lawrenceville. 770-573-1601, bigdavesway.com
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